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HISTORY 



THE EGYPTIANS. 



EDWARD "^FARR 



NEW YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 

No. 985 BROADWAY. 

1850. 



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PREFACE. 



History has been well defined, by an English poet, 
as " Time's slavish scribe." It stands charged with 
the task of narrating past events, and carrying them 
down to that awful period when time shall give place 
to eternity. 

Looking at Ancient History in this broad hght, its 
importance to mankind must be obvious. Its value, 
however, is not confined to the mere knowledge of past 
events which may be derived from its pages. The har- 
mony which subsists between the events it records and 
the Divine predictions unfolded in the Bible ; the evi- 
dence it contains of there being a Divine Almighty 
Governor ruling and directing all the affairs of our lower 
world according to his holy will and pleasure ; the 
varied display of human character it presents to our 
view ; the response it gives in every page to the declara- 
tion of Holy Writ, that man has no abiding city on 
earth ; and the scope it affords for Christian reflection 
and improvement, whereby we are called to press for- 
ward in the ways of righteousness, — are features in this 
department of literature which increase its importance 
a hundred fold. It is true, that historical works, in 
general, take no note of these features. A mere detail 
of facts is placed before the reader, and he is left to draw 
his own inferences. Of the writers of such histories, it 
may be said that God was not in all their thoughts ; 
that although he was placed in legible characters before 
them, they carefully excluded Him from the notice of 
mankind. A work, therefore, upon an opposite and 
better plan, must be acknowledged by all Christian 



iv rP.EFACE. 

readers to be a desideratum ; and it is hoped that, in the 
accompanying pages, it will be in some measure sup- 
plied. The precious fragments, which other historians 
have either despised or not searched out, are here 
gathered together and presented to the world. 

There are two sources from which our knowledge of 
the ancients is derived — from sacred and from profane 
history. The Bible relates chiefly to the Jews, and does 
not, indeed, afford a consecutive history of any other 
people. They are only noticed incidentally, or in so far 
as some historical facts representing them are connected 
with the history of the ancestors of the Jewish race, or 
with the Jews considered as a nation. As, however, 
the Bible is the oldest historical record extant, these in- 
cidental notices are very valuable, and hence they form 
a prominent feature in this work. Before their light, 
the narratives of Ctesias and Diodorus Siculus, which 
Rollin has vainly endeavoured to combine with them in 
his history, and which have been seriously believed by 
some of the greatest I'lames in the literary world, whether 
of ancient or modern times, have been found to be but 
the tales of romance — tales utterly at variance with 
sober reason, sacred chronology, and Scripture state- 
ments. To separate those fictions from the truth, which 
have been deemed worthy of credit by many, has cost 
much anxious thought and care. It is hoped, however, 
that this desirable object has been accomplished. Not 
that every statement here given can be pronounced 
indisputably true ; for sacred history alone can be fully 
depended upon for veracity. Profane historians, among 
the ancients, were liable to err fiom superstition, preju- 
dice, and a love of the marvellous ; and to record the 
palpably erroneous emanations from these evil sources, 
has formed no part of the plan of this publication. 

A distinguishing feature of the work placed in the 
hands of the reader, is the concentrated view it affords 
of the countries and cities which the different nations 
inhabited, and which will be found in the various 
physical and topographical sections. It is strange, that 
while historians have dwelt upon the political history 
of nations,- Avhile thev have recorded the lives of mon- 



rjrt:FACE. t 

aiclis, warriors, poets, pliilosophers, orators, statesmen, 
etc., at great length, they have deemed a knowledge of 
the country in which they lived, a matter of such small 
importance that they have excluded it from their pages. 
Concerning some countries, indeed, our knowledge, till 
of late, has been very imperfect, such information hav- 
ing formerly been deemed wholly unnecessary in the 
routine of a general education. Now, however, this 
knowledge is deemed desirable ; and the researches of 
modern travellers have enabled us to present a concen- 
trated view of the different countries to our readers. 
These subjects are here also rendered more interesting, 
by illustrations from the pages of ancient poets, which 
throw much light on the physical condition of a large 
portion of both Asia and Europe in their days. 

The geographical and topographical information is 
not confined to the particular countries in which the 
people lived whose history is recorded. It is of little 
avail to tell the reader that such an event happened in 
such a place, by name ; the spot must be identified, and 
then it becomes associated in his mind as a reality. 

The title page states that this history is compiled from 
" Rollin, and other authentic sources, both Ancient and 
Modern." That portion which has been derived from 
Rolliji, is entirely re-written : he was not sufficiently 
cautious on some points, and much additional informa- 
tion has been accumulated since his time, of which 
great use is made in this volume. The information de- 
rived from the other sources alluded to, may be termed 
two-fold, geographical and historical. Among the geo- 
graphical authorities consulted, may be enumerated 
Ainsworth, Aristotle, Asiatic Researches, Bell, Bochan, 
Chardin, Clark, D'Anville, Dodwell, Frazer, Gell, Han 
way, Hawkins, Herbelot, Herodotus, Holland, Hughw 
Ker Porter, Kinnier, Laurent, Leake, Morier, Niebuhi 
Pausanias, Pecchio, Pliny, Ptolemy, Rennel, Rich 
Strabo, Tavernier, Waddington, Xenophon, etc. etc. 

Among the historical authorities may be mentioned 
Bossuet, Diodorus, Gibb6n, Gillies, Hales, Heeren, Hen- 
derson, Herodotus, Josephus, Keightly, Kitto, Malcolm, 
Mitford, Pluta»:ch, Polybius, Prideaux, Raleigh, Rosen- 

1* 



vi PREFxiCE. 

miiUer, Taylor, Tliirlwall, Universal Ancient History, 
Wilkinson, Xenophon, etc. etc. 

Such is, briefly, the natiue of the following pages. 
They are based upon the broad and solid foundations 
of Christianity, and they are sent forth into the world 
with prayer that the Divine blessing may rest upon 
them ; that the Christian reader may find, in the perusal 
of them, his faith strengthened, and his soul animated, 
to pursue with alacrity his heavenly race ; and that the 
infidel may be convinced that there is a God who ruleth 
in the earth. May this History prove what ancient 
history ought to be, the handmaid of religion 1 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER L 
THE PHYSICAL HISTORY OF EGYPT. 

PAGE. 

The Nile 13 

The Land of Goshen 20 

The Climate of Egyirt 21 

The Productions of Egypt 22 

Gold and Silver Mines 22 



CHAPTER 11. 



TOPOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF EGYPT. 



No, No-Ammon, Diospolis, or Thebes 39 

Zoan, or Tanis 44 

On, or Heliopolis 44 

Pithom and Rameses 45 

"Sin," or Pelusium 46 

Pibeseth, or Bubastus 46 

Tahahpanes, Tahpanes, or Hanes 46 

Migdol 47 

Noph, Menoph, or Memphis 47 

Syene 49 

Alexandria 50 

Arsinoe 53 

Aby'dos 54 

Berenice 55 

Myos Hormos 56 



vi5 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Tentyra 56 

ApoUinopolis 57 

Latopolis 57 

Ombos.. -•• 58 

Phylifi 58 

Canopus 58 



CHAPTER III. 
HISTORY OF THE POLITY OF EGYPT. 



The Kingly Power 60 

Cjistes of the People 65 

The Priestly Power 66 

The Militarj' Power. 72 

Husbandmen.... ^ 74 

Artificers, etc 76 

Shepherds, etc 77 

Laws 78 

Division of the country into Nomes, or Provinces 84 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

EGTPTIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 

From about b. c. 2613 to b. c. 570. 

Salatis, Silites, or Nirmaryada 89 

Apachnas, Paehman, or Rucma» 90 

Assis, Apophis,or Apbohis 91 

The Plagues of Egypt ; 106 

The first Plague.. 106 

The Second Plague 107 

The Third Plague 108 

The Fourth Plague 108 

The Fifth Plague 109 

The Sixth Plague 109 

The Seventh Plague 110 

The Eight Plague Ill 

The Ninth Plague 112 

The Tenth Plague 113 

Moeri8,or Myris 116 



CONTENTS. IX 

rAGE. 

Sesostris 118 

Pheron — 123 

Osymandas 123 

Proteiis 127 

Rhampsinitus 129 

Cheops ...- 130 

Cephrenes 131 

Shishak 132 

Mycerinus 134 

Tnephachthus 135 

Bocchoris 135 

Anysis 136 

Sethon, or Sebecon 137 

Twelve Kings 139 

Psammiticus 141 

Nekus 144 

Psammis 147 

Apries, or Pharaoh-Hophra 147 



CHAPTER V. 
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

BABYLONIAN OOMINATI9N. 

From B. c. 570. to b. c. 538. 
Amasis 154 

CHAPTER VI. 
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

PKRSIAN DOMINATION. 

From B. c. 538 to b. c. 413. 

Psammenltus ••• 161 

Sraerdis, the Magian 163 

Darius Hystaspes 163 

Xerxes 164 

Artaxerxes Longimanus 164 

Darius Nothos ,.....,,...,.. 165 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

EGYPTIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT 

From B. c. 413. to b. c. 350. 

PAGE. 

Amyrteus 166 

Psammiticus ii 166 

Nepherites 167 

Acoris 167 

Psammoutis 167 

Nepherites ii. and Mouthis 168 

Nectanebis 168 

Tachus, or Taeos 168 

Nectanebus 170 

CHAPTER VIII. 
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

PERSIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 

From B. c. 350. to b. c. 332, 

Darius Oclius 172 

Arses 173 

Darius Codomanus. . , 173 

CHAPTER IX 
THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

MACEDO-GRECIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 

From B. c. 332 to b. c. 30. 

Alexander 175 

Ptolemy La^s 176 

Ptolemy Philadelphus 183 

Ptolemy Euergetes 197 

Ptolemy Philopater 203 

Ptolemy Epiphanes 213 

Ptolemy Philometer 221 

Ptolemy Physcon 238 

Cleopatra, Ptolemy Lathynis, Alexander i 245 

Cleopatra. — Alexander ii 253 

Ptolemy Auletes, Berenice, Seleucus, Archelaiis 255 

Ptolemy, Cleopatra , 2(>5 

Dynasties of Ejjyptian Monarclis, according to Manetho, on the 
outhority of Afrioiinus and Eusebius 301 



THE HISTORY 



OP 



THE EGYPTIANS 



CHAPTER I. 

THE PHYSICAL HISTORY OP EGYPT. 

Egypt is generally reckoned within the limits of Africa, 
though several geographers have considered it as more na- 
turally belonging to Asia. It is situated between latitude 
24° 3' and 31° 37'. It is bounded on the north by the Medi- 
terranean ; on the east by the little river El Arishj (supposed 
to be the scriptural " River of Egypt," Numb, xxxiv. 5,) on 
the borders of Palestine, and the Syrian or Arabian desert, 
which extends from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez, 
and from thence, southwards, by the vv^est coast of the Red 
Sea ; and on the west by the Libyan desert. From the ear- 
liest ages, jts-' boundary to the south has been fixed at the 
rapids or cataracts of Assouan, the ancient Syene, which are 
formed by a number of granite rocks that stretch across the 
bed of the Nile, over which this great river rolls its foaming 
stream. 

The length of Egypt is very disproportionate to its breadth : 
its extent from the mouth of the Nile to Syene, the border of 
Nubia under the tropic of Cancer, is about 500 miles, but it is 
little wider than the valley through which the Nile flows in 
Upper Egypt, until it reaches Lovver Egypt, at some distance 
above the head, or vortex of the Delta, (a plain so called by 
the Greeks from its resemblence to the letter ^,) where the 
valley expands itself The average breadth of the valley, 
from one mountain range to the other, between Cairo in 
Lower, and Edfou in Upper Egypt, is only aboi.U seven 



12 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

miles ; and that of the land capable of cultivation, the limits of 
which depend on the inundation, scarcely exceeds five and a 
half, being in the widest part ten and three quarters, and in 
the narrowest two miles, including the river. 

The extent in square miles of the district between the pyra- 
mids and the sea is considerable ; that of the Delta alone, 
which forms a portion of it, is estimated at 1,976 square 
miles. This portion is very narrow about its apex, at the 
junction of the modern Rosetta and Damietta branches ; but 
it gradually widens on approaching the coast, where its base 
is eighty-one miles. The whole northern district, with the 
intermediate Delta included, contains about 4,500 square 
miles, or double the whole arable land of Egypt, which is 
computed at 2,255 square miles, exclusive of the Fyoom, a 
small province consisting of about 340 miles. 

In Scripture, Upper Egypt or Thebaid, seems to be called 
Pathros, as distinguished from the Lower, probably called 
Caphtor or Egypt. Compare Isa. xi. 11, with Ezek. xxix, 
14; and Jer. xliv. 1, with Ezek. xxx. 14 — 16, Deut. ii. 23, 
Jer. xlvii. 4. The latter term appears to denote, generally, 
the whole of Lower Egypt, which is the part of the country 
best known to the Hebrews, but of which occasionally the 
Delta separately taken is called Rahab. See Psa. Ixxxix. 1 0, 
and Isa. li. 9. Bochart thinks the word Rahab or Raab, is 
the same as Rib or Riph, the Egyptian name of the Delta, 
which was so called from its resemblance to a pear — " Rib" 
being the name of that fruit. Hence there was, it is said, in 
the middle of the Delta, a name or district called Alhribis, 
" the heart of the pear." 

The country of Egypt attained an earlier and a higher de- 
gree of civilization and refinement than any other in the world. 
It was the seat of the royal government in the days of the pa- 
triarch Abraham, and it abounded at that time with provi- 
sions, while the neighbouring countries, and even the fertile 
regions of Palestine, were exposed to frequent famines, Gen. 
xii. 10. How far they had advanced in civilization in these 
remote ages, we may gather from Gen. xxxvii. 25, where we 
find the Ishmaelites conducting a caravan by the way of 
Shechem, loaded with the spices of India, the balsam and 
myrrh of Hadramout for the Egyptian market. From the 
sculptures of Beni Hassan, (grottoes on the east bank of the 
Nile,) we learn also that the Egyptians were well acquainted 
with the manufacture of linens, glass, cabinet work, and nu- 
merous objects indicative of art and refinement, and that vari- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANP. 13 

ous g-ymnastic exercises were common at a period approach- 
ing these ages. 

The peculiar fertility of the soil of Egypt arose from the 
fertilizing influences of the annual inundation of 

THE NILE. 

To this we find a reference, Deut. xi. 10 — 12. The He- 
brew lawgiver, speaking to the Hebrews concerning Pales- 
tine, says, " For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, 
is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where 
thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a 
garden of herbs ; but the land, whither ye go to possess it, is 
a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of 
heaven : a land which the Lord thy God careth for : the eyes 
of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning 
of the year even unto the end of the year." The reader will 
be mindful that there is no intention here to compare the two 
countries as to fertility, Egypt being, without exception, the 
most fertile country in the world ; but there is an interesting 
comparison as to the process of irrigation. Of Palestine it is 
said, that it is watered by the rains of Heaven. But this is 
not the case in Egypt. In that country, rain seldom or 
scarcely ever falls, especially in the interior ;* but its fertility 
depends upon the annual overflow of the Nile, which is made 
available for the purpose of irrigation in the fullest extent, 
only, by means of the numerous canals and trenches, which 
require every year to be cleaned out, and the dykes carefully 

* Thunder occurs occasionally in the Delta, in the rainy season, or 
about the time of the equinoxes, especially the autumnal one. These 
storms constantly come from the Mediterranean, and they are accompanied 
with violent showers, and sometimes with hail. In general they happen 
either in the evening or morning, and rarely in the middle of the day. 
When, therefore, it is said that no rain falls in Egypt, it must be taken 
as a general expression, and not without some exceptions, or be under- 
stood of Upper Egypt, or the Thebaid, Maillet says that in Lower Egypt it 
rained five or six times from November to April in 1692, and the two fol- 
lowing years ; but that frequently three or four years pass in Upper Egypt 
without rain, and it is such a rarity there as to cause public rejoicings. 
This is confirmed by Dr. Pococke, who mentions also that the rains are 
frequent and hea'^y on the sea coast and in Lower Egypt, particularly 
from November to March, but that in Cairo they are moderate, and only 
in the months of December, January, and February ; and that in Upper 
Egypt they had rain but twice, half an hour each time, in the course of 
eight years. On this subject, however, there is a great variety of state- 
ments among travellers, from whence it is probable that Egypt is visited 
sometimes more and sometimes less with rain from heaven. 
VOL. I. 2 



14 HISTORY OF THE EGYrTIANS. 

repaired. The word rendered " foot," is supposed by some 
to have been u-sed metaphorically to denote labour ; and the 
force of the comparison would then be, that Egypt was wa- 
tered by labour, while Canaan did not require such artificial 
means to make it fruitful. The foot, however, it must be re- 
membered, was literally used to conduct the streams of water 
which makes it more impressive. Many suppose that the 
digging and cleaning of canals, for the purposes of irrigation, 
was among the "hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick," 
with which the lives of the Israelites were made bitter in 
Egypt ; if so, it must have been a great satisfaction to them to 
know that no such manual labour was required in Pales- 
tine, and the point of the comparison must have been very 
emphatic. 

But this grand feature in the landscape of Egypt demands 
particular notice. The various branches of the Nile have 
their rise in the high lands north of the Equator, and flowing 
through Abyssinia and other regions westward of it, meet in 
the country of Senaar. The united stream flows northwards 
through Nubia and Egypt, and after a course of more than 
1,800 miles from the farthest explored point of its principal 
branch, enters the Mediterranean by several mouths, which 
form the Delta of Egypt. In a distance of 1,350 nautical 
miles from the mouth of the Tacazze to the Delta, the Nile 
does not receive a single tributary stream, which Humboldt 
remarks is a solitary instance in the hydrographic history of 
the globe. 

The ancients assigned many reasons for the increase of the 
Nile ; but it is now universally acknowledged, that its inun- 
dations are owing to the copious rains which fall in Ethiopia, 
from whence it flows. These rains swell it to such an extent 
that Ethiopia first, and then Egypt, are overflowed ; and that 
which at first was but a large river, rises like a sea and 
spreads its blessings over the face of an extensive country. 

Herodotus says, the Nile begins to increase about the sum- 
mer solstice, and continues to rise for a hundred days ; and 
then decreases for the same time, and continues low all the 
winter, until the return of the summer solstice. Diodorus 
writes to the same efiect, stating that the inundation begins at 
the summer solstice, and increases till the autumnal equinox. 
This is confirmed by the reports of modern travellers. Ac- 
cording to Pococke, the river began to increase at Cairo, in 
1714, June 30 ; in 1715, July 1 ; in 1738, June 20. So pre- 
cisely is the stupendous operation of its inundation calculated, 



HISTORY OP THE EGYPTIANS. 15 

says Bruce, that on the 25th of September, only three days af- 
ter the autumnal equinox, the Nile is generally found at 
Cairo to be at its highest, and begins to diminish every day 
after. It would appear, then, that the river begins to swell in 
June, but the rise is not rapid or remarkable till early in July ; 
that the greatest rise is attained about the autumnal equinox, 
and the waters remain upon the same level until the middle 
of October ; and that, after this, the subsidence is very sensi- 
ble, and the lowest point is reached in April. 

The swell of the river varies in differents parts of the chan- 
nel. In Upper Egypt, it is from thirty to forty-five feet ; at 
Cairo, it is about twenty-three feet ; whilst in the northern 
part of the Delta it does not exceed four feet, which is owing 
to the artificial channels, and the breadth of the inundation. 
The four feet of increase is, however, as requisite to the fer- 
tility of the Delta, as the twenty-three or thirty feet, and up- 
wards, elsewhere. 

As the riches of Egypt depend on the inundation of the 
Nile, all the circumstances and different degrees of its in- 
crease have been carefully considered ; and by a long series 
of regular observations, made during many years, the inun- 
dation itself -discovered what kind of harvest the ensuing year 
was likely to produce. The kings caused to be placed at 
Memphis a measure on which these different increases were 
marked ; and from thence notice was given to all the rest of 
Egypt ; the inhabitants of which knew by that means, before- 
hand, what they might expect from the ensuing harvest. 
Strabo speaks of a well on the banks of the Nile, near the 
town of Syene, made for that purpose. 

The same custom is to this day observed at Grand Cairo. 
In the court of a mosque there stands a pillar, on which are 
marked the degrees of the Nile's increase: and the public 
criers proclaim daily in all parts of the city how much the 
river had risen. The tribute paid to the Grand Seignor for 
the lands, used to be regulated by the height of the inunda- 
tion. Sixteen cubits is the proper height for the opening of 
the canal, by cutting down the dam, that so the waters of the 
inundation may enter the canal which runs through the midst 
of Cairo to the north-east, watering the plain to the extent of 
twenty leagues, and filling the Lake of the Pilgrims. If the 
river wants a single inch of this height, no tribute is due, the 
produce being then scarcely sufficient to pay the cultivator. 
If it increases to the height of twenty-three or twenty-four 
cubits, it is judged most favourable. If it rise beyond that, it 



10 HISTOUY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

overthrows houses and destroys cattle ; and it also engenders 
a host of insects, which destroy the fruits of the earth. The 
day on which, it rises to a certain height is kept as a grand 
festival, and solemnized with fireworks, feastings, and all the 
demonstrations of public rejoicing ; and in the remotest ages, 
the overflowing of the Nile was always attended with a uni- 
versal joy throughout all Egypt, that being the fountain of 
its happiness. 

But not only the fertility and riches of Egypt depend on 
the overflowing of the Nile ; its very existence is owing to 
the same wonderful cause. We ^^.j wonderful^ for although the 
phenomenon is by no means peculiar to the Nile, (for it is 
more or less common to all rivers whose volume is annually 
augmented by the periodical rains which fall within the 
tropics,) there is no river the annual swelling of which is so 
replete with important consequences, or so essential to the 
existence of a nation. The very soil of Egypt was, no doubt, 
originally formed by tne earth brought down by the river 
from Abyssinia and the interior of Africa, and deposited 
during the annual inundation. That it has been progressive- 
ly elevated in the course of ages, from this cause, is demon- 
strated by a number of distinct facts. Towns and monuments 
for instance, which are known from history to have been 
originally built on mounds, to secure them from the effects of 
the inundation, now lie so low in the plain as to be inundated 
every year. Thus, in the plain of Thebes, the alluvial mud 
has accumulated to the height of nearly seven feet around the 
statutes of Amunoph in., which were erected probably about 
B. c. 1430. From this, however, it would not appear that the 
increase of the soil was so great as some authors imagine. 
Dr. Shaw estimates this increase at rather more than a foot 
in a century, and he observes that Egypt must have gained 
forty-one feet eight inches of soil in 4,072 years. From this 
cause he apprehends that, in the process of time, the river 
will not be able to overflow its banks, and that Egypt, from 
being the most fertile, will become one of the most barren 
countries in the universe. But this hypothesis is not well 
founded. There is, in the wise order of Providence, an 
equilibrium preserved by a nearly corresponding elevation of 
the river's bed, so that the point of overflow is maintained 
nearly in the same ratio with the elevation of soil. This is 
demonstrated by the ancient Nilometer near Elphantine, 
mentioned by Strabo, and which is still existing. The 
highest measure marked upon it is twenty-four cubits, about 



HisTOr>,Y or THE EGYPTJAAS. 17 

thirty-six feet ; but the water now rises, when at its greatest 
elevation, nearly eight feet above this mark ; while it appears, 
from an inscription on the wall, made a. d. 300, that the 
water then rose only a foot above that level. This gives an 
elevation of about five inches in a century ; and it has been 
collected from other data, that the rise in the circumjacent 
soil is nearly in the same proportion. 

To secure the blessings of the waters of the Nile, through 
the whole breadth of their country, the inhabitants of Egypt 
have, with great labour, in different ages, cut a vast number 
of trenches and canals in every part.* These canals are not 
opened till the river has attained a certain height, nor yet all 
at the same time ; for if they were, the distribution of the 
water would be unequal. When the water begins to subside, 
these sluices are closed, and they are gradually opened again 
in the autumn, allowing the waters to pass on to contribute to 
the irrigation of the Delta. The distribution of the stream 
has always been subject to minute and distinct regulations, the 
necessity for which may be estimated from the common state- 
ment, that scarcely a tenth part of the water of the Nile 
reaches the sea in the first three months of the inundation. 
During the inundation, the whole country appears like a 
series of ponds and reservoirs ; and it is not merely the satu- 
ration of the ground, but the deposit of soil which takes place 
during the overflow, that is so favourable to the agriculture 
of Egypt. The alluvial matter annually brought down and 
deposited by the Nile, is estimated by Dr. Shaw as equal to 
a hundred and twentieth part of the volume of water which 
it pours into the sea. This soil contains principles so friendly 
to vegetation, that it is used for manure in those places which 
have not been adequately benefited by the iniindation ; while, 
on the other hand, where the deposit has been abundant, the 
people mingle sand with it to diminish its strength. As soon 
as the waters have retired, cultivation commences ; and where 

* At what period the system of irrigating the Delta of Egypt by canals 
drawn from the Nile and its branches commenced, it is impossible now to 
determine. The Egyptians ascribe its invention to Osiris and Sesostris. 
Osiris, say they, enclosed the river on both sides with strong dykes, and 
erected sluices in proper places for letting out the waters upon the fields, 
as they had need of it. The probability is, that as the demand for Agri- 
cultural produce would increase with the population, so the idea of in- 
creasing the supply to the greatest possible quantity would suggest the 
propriety of embanking the river, and of drawing canals from it through- 
out the whole breadth of the country. And this would be done, not in 
tlie reign of one prince, but in several successive reigns. 

2* 



18 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the soil has been sufficiently inundated, very little labour is 
demanded. The seed is sown in the moistened soil, and 
vegetation and harvest follow with such rapidity, as to allow 
a succession of crops wherever water can be commanded. 

The influence of the Nile upon the condition and appear- 
ance of the country can only be estimated by comparing its 
aspect in the season which immediately precedes, with that 
which follows the inundation. Before it occurs, it exhibits 
a parched desert of sand and dust, but afterwards a level ver- 
dant plain. 

There cannot be a finer sight in nature than Egypt ex- 
hibits at two seasons of the year. In the months of July and 
August, if a traveller should ascend some mountain or one 
of the far-famed pyramids, he would behold a vast sea, in the 
midst of which numerous towns and villages appear, with 
several causeways leading from place to place, the whole in- 
terspersed with groves and fruit trees, whose tops only are 
visible. This view is bounded by mountains and w'oods, 
which terminate, at the utmost distance the eye can discover, 
the most beautiful horizon that can be imagined. On the 
contrarj?^, in January and February, the whole country is, 
like one continued scene of beautiful meadows, whose ver- 
dure, enamelled with flowers, charms the eye. The specta- 
tor beholds on every side flocks and herds dispersed over all 
the plains, with infinite numbers of husbandmen and gar- 
deners. The air is then perfumed by the great quantity of 
blossoms on the orange, lemon, and other trees, and is so pure 
that breezes more salubrious or agreeable are not enjoyed in 
the wide expanse of creation. Contrasting the country at 
such a season with its inhabitants, we may adopt the language 
of the poet, who said of the isle and the natives of Ceylon, 
with beautiful simplicity : 

" Every prospect pleases, 

And only man is vile." — Heber. 

" A man cannot," says De Bruyn, in his Travels, " help 
observing the admirable providence of God towards this 
country, who sends, at a fixed season, such great quantities of 
rain in Ethiopia, in order to water Egypt, where a shower 
of rain scarcely ever falls ; and who, by that means, causes 
the most barren soil to become the richest and most fruitful 
country in the universe." 

But the Egyptians did not look at this wonderful circum- 
stance in such a pure and Christian light Feeling their 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 19 

entire dependence on the Nile, and prone by nature, like the 
rest of mankind, to look to secondary causes rather than to 
the infinitely great and good God, from whom all blessings 
are derived, the Egyptians were led to deify their Nile. 
Heliodorus says : " They paid divine honours to this river, 
and revered it as the first of their gods. They declared him 
to be the rival of heaven, since he watered the country with- 
out the aid of clouds and rains." The priests of Egypt told 
Herodotus, that one of their kings, Pheron, the son of Sesos- 
tris, was struck blind by the river god for an act of impiety • 
that at a time when the inundation had risen to the extraor- 
dinary height of more than eighteen cubits, a violent storm of 
wind having arisen, which greatly agitated the waters, the 
king, with a foolish temerity, took a javelin in his hand, and 
flung it into the midst of the foaming billows, for which he 
was immediately seized with a pain in his eyes, which made 
him blind for ten years. The principal festival of this imagi- 
nary god, was at the summer solstice, when the inundation 
commenced ; at which season, by a cruel idolatrous rite, the 
Egyptians sacrificed red-haired persons, principally foreign- 
ers, to Typhon, or the power said to preside over tempests, at 
Busiris, Heliopolis, etc., by burning them alive, and scatte 
ing their ashes in the air for the good of the people. Bryai 
inifers the probability that these victims were chosen from 
among the Israelites during their residence in Egypt. 

From all this we learn how excessive was the superstitious 
adoration which the Egyptians paid to their river. How im- 
pressive, then, must those miracles have been in which their 
sacred river was turned into blood, and made to pour forth 
loathsome frogs in such abundance, that they covered the 
whole land of Egypt. See Exod. vii. 15 — 25, and viii. 1 — 
15. At the present day, though under the sway of the 
sterner Moslem religion, the reverence entertained for this 
stream, still called the Most Holy River, and the rites with 
which its benefits are celebrated, exhibit in the present inhabi- 
tants of Egypt a tendency towards the same superstitious form 
of adoration and gratitude. 

One feature of the Nile remains to be noticed, namely, the 
qualities of the water. Ancients and moderns, with one 
voice, declare it to be the most pleasant and nutritive in the 
Avorld. Why it should be so, Plato could not conceive, but 
he states such to be the case ; and he relates that the Egyp- 
tian priests refrained from giving it to their bull-god Apis on 
account of its fattening properties. 



20 HISTOE.y OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Savary, in his " Letters on Egypt," says, in a note, that 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, marrying his daughter Berenice to 
Antiochus king of Syria, sent her water from the Nile, which 
alone she could drink, [AthencRus ;) that the kings of Persia 
sent for the waters of the Nile and sal ammoniac, {Dino, 
Hist, of Persia ;) and that the Egyptians are the only peo- 
ple who preserve the water of the Nile in sealed vases, and 
drink it when it is old with the same pleasure that we do old 
wine, {Aristides Rhetor.) The same author also bears his 
own testimony to the agreeable qualities of the water of the 
Nile. He says, " The waters of the Nile, also, lighter, 
softer, and more agreeable to the taste than any I knou', great- 
ly influence the health of the inhabitants. All antiquity ac- 
knowledges their excellence, and the people certainly drink 
them with a kind of avidity without being ever injured by the 
quantity. Being lightly impregnated with nitre, they are 
only a gentle aperient to those who take them to excess." 
Maillet is more enthusiastic in his description of the Nile 
water ; affirming, that when a stranger drinks it for the first 
time, it seems like a drink prepared by art, and that it is 
among waters what champagne is among wines. 

THE LAND OF GOSHEN. 

With reference to this part of Egypt, so celebrated in the 
sacred page, Michaelis remarks : — " Concerning the situation 
of the land of Goshen, authors have maintained very different 
opinions ; but have withal made it impossible for themselves 
to ascertain the truth by concurring in the representation of 
Goshen as the most beautiful and fertile part of Egypt. But 
is it at all probable that a king of Egypt would have taken 
the very best part of his territory from his own native subjects 
to give it to strangers, and these, too, a wandering race of 
herdsmen, hitherto accustomed only to traverse with their 
cattle the deserts and uncultivated commons of the east ?" 
But, notwithstanding that it would appear from this learned 
writer doubtful w'here the land of Goshen was, and whether 
it was a rich land, it has been satisfactorily shown that the 
"best of the land," as applied to Goshen, means no more 
than that it was the richest pasture ground of Lower Egypt. 
It was called Goshen from Gush, in Arabic signifying " a 
heart," or whatever is choice or precious ; and hence it was 
that Joseph recommended it to his flimily as the " best," and 
as " the fat of the land." See Gen. xlv." IS ; xlvii. 1 1. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 21 

The land of Goshen lay along the Pelusaic, or most easterly- 
branch of the Nile, towards Palestine and Arabia ; for it 
is plain that the Hebrews did not cross that river in their ex- 
ode from Egypt, as they otherwise must have done. Thus 
situated, it must have included part of the district of Heliopo- 
lis, of which the " On " of the Scriptures is supposed to have 
been the capital, and which lay on the eastern border of the 
Delta. Eastward of the river, the land of Goshen appears to 
have stretched into the desert, where the noinade shepherds 
might find sustenance for their flocks. In some places it may 
have extended in this direction to the Gulf of Suez. Thus 
defined, the land of Goshen included a quantity of fertile land, 
answering to Joseph's description of it. 

In the territory of the tribe of Judah, there was another 
Goshen, and it was probably so called from being, like the 
Goshen of Egypt, a district chiefly appropriated to pasture. 

THE CLIMATE OF EGYPT. 

It will be seen, from the foregoing pages, that Egypt pos- 
sessed in an eminent degree the three elements of fertility — 
water, soil and warmth. Without the latter blessifig, the two 
former would have been of little avail. The climate of Egypt, 
during the greater part of the year, is indeed most salubrious. 
The khamseen, or hot south wind, however, which blows in 
April and May, is oppressive and unhealthy. The exhala- 
tions from the soil, also, after the inundation, render the latter 
part of the autumn less healthy than the summer and winter, 
and cause opthalmia, dysentery, and other diseases. The 
summer heat is seldom very oppressive, being accompanied 
by a refreshing northerly breeze, and the air being extremely 
dry. But this dryness causes an excessive quantity of dust, 
which is peculiarly annoying. The thermometer in Lower 
Egypt, in the depth of winter, is from 50° to 60° in the after- 
noon, and in the shade : in the hottest season, it is from 90° 
to 100°, and about ten degrees higher in the southern parts of 
Upper Egypt. The climate of this part of Egypt, though 
hotter, is much more healthy than that of the lower country. 
This is proved by the fact that the plague seldom ascends far 
above Cairo, and that ophthalmia is mote common in Lower 
than in Upper Egypt. The winds in Egypt are in some 
degree periodical, and governed by the seasons, Thunder 
occurs in the Delta, accompanied with violent showers, and' 
sometimes with hail. In Lower Egypt, dew is very abundant. 



22 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Even the sands of the desert, says Clarke, partake largely ot 
the dew of heaven, and in a certain degree of the fatness of 
the earth. 

THE PRODUCTIONS OF EGYPT. 

Under this section of the " Physical History of Egypt," it 
will be sufficient to treat only of some of the principal plants 
indigenous to Egypt, and of the abundance of corn it produced. 

Linum. — This plant is an annual, and has been cultivated 
from time immemorial for its textile fibres, which are spun 
into thread and woven into cloth. It has a green stem, from 
a foot and a half to two feet high, and it puts forth a blue 
flower, which is succeeded by a capsule, containing ten flat 
oblong seeds of a brown colour, from whence an oil is pro- 
cured, which is used both in manufactures and painting. 
We learn from Scripture that Egypt was anciently celebrated 
for the production of and manufacture of linen from this plant. 
It was one of the plants which the plague of hail destroyed. 
See Exod. ix. 31. The fine linen which was composed of 
flax is also spoken of in several passages. Joseph was 
arrayed in " vestures of fine linen" when he interpreted Pha- 
raoh's dream. Gen. xli. 42 ; and Solomon makes mention of it 
in the book of Proverbs, ch. viii. 16. The prophet Isaiah 
also speaks of those that worked in " fine flax " of Egypt, 
ch. xix. 9 ; and Ezekiel, enumerating the luxuries of Tyrus, 
says, " Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that 
which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail," ch. xxvii. 7. To 
the same effect ancient authors write. Herodotus says, that, 
wrought into inner garments, it constituted the principal dress 
of the inhabitants, and the priests never put on any other kind 
of clothing. The mummy chests, also, which occur in the 
ancient tombs of Egypt in large quantities, and of many dif- 
ferent qualities and patterns, appear upon examination, to be 
made with flax. In the ancient tombs, moreover, which are 
found in the neighbourhood of all the great cities of Egypt, the 
culture and manufacture of flax is a very common subject 
of the paintings with which their sides are covered ; and it is 
clear that the Jews derived their fine stuffs from Egypt, and 
that from the variety of terms employed, fabrics of different 
qualities, and all highly appreciated by foreign nations, were 
produced by the Egyptian loom. The manufacture of flax, 
indeed, is still carried on in that country, the articles of which 
are represented as being of the most beautiful texture, and so 



fflSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 23 

finely spun that the threads are with difficulty ohserved. 
There appear to have been two kinds of flax, the Abestinum 
and the Byssus. Pliny holds the former in the highest esti- 
mation, and notices a remarkable property peculiar to itself, 
that of being incombustible ; but this partakes of the fabulous, 
an error that too frequently mars the pages of ancient writers. 
This author says of the Byssus, that the dress and the orna- 
ments were made of it, and this may have been the material 
of which " the fine linen with broidered work" was com- 
posed, as mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel. 

Papyrus. — This was the Egyptian reed, or the Cyperus 
Papyrus of Linneeus. It is described by two names in Scrip- 
ture, which our translators render " rush " and " bulrush." 
It is distinguished by its cluster of elegant little spikes, which 
consists of a single row of scales ranged on each side in a 
straight line. These clusters hang in a nodding position, a 
circumstance alluded to by the prophet Isaiah, ch. Iviii. 5. 
The root of the Cyperus is about the thickness of a man's 
wrist, and more than fifteen feet in length, and it is so hard 
that it is used for making utensils. Its stem is about four cubits 
in length, and being an esculent plant, was eaten in ancient 
days either raw, roasted, or boiled. It served also as a mate- 
rial for boats, sails, mats, clothes, beds, and books : our word 
" paper " is, indeed, derived from the Greek name of this 
plant : the delicate rind or bark of which was anciently used 
for the purpose of writing upon, an invention ascribed by 
Varro to Alexander the Great when he built Alexandria. 
There are two allusions in Scripture to the papyrus being 
used as a material for boats : the one records the fact that the 
infant Moses was saved in a vessel of this description, Exod. 
ii.; and the other speaks of ambassadors being sent from 
beyond the rivers of Ethopia " in vessels of bulrushes upon the 
waters," Isa. xviii. 2. The manner of constructing these ves- 
sels was simply by making the papyrus into bundles, and 
tying them together in such a manner as to give them the 
necessary shape and solidity. That vessels were made of 
this material in Egypt, is proved by the testimony of profane 
writers also : Pliny notices " ships made of papyrus, and the 
equipments of the Nile." 

Reeds. — This plant, of which there are many varieties, 
appears to have grown in immense quantities on the banks of 
the Nile. Hence it is, in connection with the well-known 
fragility of reeds in general, that they were adopted by the 
Assyrian general to symbolize the Egyptian nation. " Now, 



24 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even 
upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it |\'ill go into his hand, 
and pierce it : so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust 
on him," 2 Kings xviii. 21. See also, Ezek. xxix. 6, 7. 

The Cucumber. — This well-known fruit is mentioned in 
Scripture, Numbers xi. 5, as a portion of the diet which the 
Israelites enjoyed so freely in Egypt, and over the loss of 
which they mourned as they passed through the wilderness. 
That country, indeed, as well as Arabia, produces many varie- 
ties of the cucumber, some of which are softer and more easily 
digested than those with which we are acquainted ; a circum- 
stance attributable to the mellowing effects of the rays of the 
sun in those climates, which never can be compensated for by 
artificial heat. Hasselquist thinks that the cucumber referred 
to by the murmuring Hebrews was the cucumis chate, or 
" queen of cucumbers," of which he gives the following des- 
cription : — " It grows in the fertile earth round Cairo, after the 
inundation of the Nile, and not in any other place in Egypt, 
nor in any other soil. It ripens like water-melons ; its flesh 
is almost of the same substance, but is not near so cool. T^e 
grandees eat it as the most pleasant food they find, and that 
from which they have least to apprehend. It is the most 
excellent of this tribe of any yet known." 

The Melon. — The cucurbita citrullus, or water melon, 
abounded in Egypt and the Levant in the days of the ancients, 
as it does at the present day. The fruit is about the size of 
the common pumpkin, the pulp of which is of a blooming 
appearance, and serves both for meat and drink. Dr. Shaw 
says, that it is, doubtless, providentially calculated for the 
southern countries, as it affords a cool, refreshing juice, 
assuages thirst, mitigates fevers and disorders, and compen- 
sates thereb}', in no small degree, for the excessive heats. An 
elegant writer also says of it : "A traveller in the east, who 
recollects the intense gratitude which the gift of a slice of 
melon inspired, while journeying over the hot and dry plains ; 
or one who remembers the consciousness of wealth and secu- 
rity which he derived from the possession of a melon while 
prepared for a day's journey over the same plains — he will 
readily comprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in 
the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of Egypt." 
The water melon is cultivated on the banks of the Nile, in the 
rich clayey earth which subsides during the inundation. 
This serves the Egyptians for meat, drink, and physic. It is 
eaten in abundance during the season, even by the richer 



HISTOE.Y OF THE EGYPTIANS. 25 

sort of people ; but the common people scarcely eat any thing 
else, and account this the best tiine of the year, as they are 
obliged to put up with worse fare at other seasons. This 
fruit hkewise serves them for drink, the juice so refreshing 
these poor creatures that they have much less occasion for 
water than if they were to live on more substantial food in this 
burning climate. 

Garlic. — Discorides says that garlics anciently grew in 
Egypt, and that they were both eaten and worshipped ; a cir- 
cumstance to which Juvenal has alluded in one of his satires. 

" How Egypt, mad with superstition grown, 
Makes gods of monsters but too well is known, 
'Tis mortal sin an onion to devour ; 
Each clove of garlic is a sacred power. 
Religious nation sure, and blest abodes, 
Where every garden is o'errun with gods. — Dryden. 

Herodotus, moreover, asserts, that on the great pyramid in 
Egypt there was an inscription which recorded the expense 
of onions, radishes, leeks, and garlic, which the workmen haa 
consumed during its erection, namely, 1,600 talents of silver. 
A variety of the species of garlic alluded to is at the present 
day cultivated in France, where it is called the " onion of 
Egypt." It is held in high estimation for the small bulbs that 
grow among the flowers, which are eaten like onions, and are 
very agreeable to the palate. It has been observed of this 
vegetable, that of all plants it has the greatest strength, affords 
the most nourishment, and supplies most spirits, to those who 
eat little animal food ; a fact to which the poet Homer alludes : 

" Honey new pressed, the sacred flour of wheat, 
And wholesome garlic crowned with sav'ry meat. 

Hasselquist says that garlic does not now grow in Egypt, 
from whence he questions Avhether it grew there anciently. 
But such an argument is by no means sound : for in the phy- 
sical history of our country, plants might be adduced which 
were formerly cultivated here, but which are now extinct. 

Leeh. — Hasselquist, speaking of this plant, says that the 
karraC or leek, which is the allium rporum of Linnaeus, is 
surely one of those plants after which the Israelites repined ; 
for it has been cultivated in Egypt from time immemorial. 
The inhabitants are extremely fond of it, and the poor people 
eat it raw with their bread, especially for breakfast, and would 
scarcely exchange their leeks and bit of bread for a royal 
dinner. 

VOL. T. 3 



•26 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

u^/itcns. — The same autnor. speaifing oi onions with refer- 
ence to Egypt, remarks. "Whoever Has tasted onions m Egypc. 
must allow that none can oe naa Detter m any pan of the 
world ; here they are sweet, in other countries they are nau- 
seous and strong ; here they are soft, whereas in the nortn ana 
other parts they are hard, and the coats so compact, that they 
are nard of digestion. Hence they cannot, in any place, be 
eaten with less prejudice and more satisfaction than in Egypt. 
They eat them roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of 
roasted meat, which the Turks m Egypt call Kehan ; ana 
with this dish they are so delighted, that I have heard them 
wish they might enjoy it in paradise. They likewise maKe a 
soup of them, cutting the onions in small pieces ; this is one 
of the best dishes I ever ate." Onions appear to have been a 
staple article of diet in Egypt in ancient times, as they are at 
the present day in warm countries. Most of the people of 
Western Asia are remarkably fond of onions, and the Arabs 
have a childish passion for them. Travellers also mention, 
that in Greece and Africa raw onions arc excellent. 

Lentils. — The lentil is the lens escvlenta of some writers, 
and the Ervum lens of Linnsus ; and it belongs to the legu- 
minous or podded family, all of which are a sort of pulse ; 
The stem of the plant is branched, and the leaves consist of 
about eight pair of smaller leaflets. The flowers are small, 
and prettily veined ; the pod contains about two seeds ; and it 
flourishes most in a dry, warm, sandy soil. Lentils are much 
used as food in Egypt, Barbary, and Syria. Dr. Shaw states, 
that the manner of dressing them in Barbary, is by boiling 
and stewing them with oil and garlic, which makes a pottage 
of a chocolate colour ; similar, it is supposed, to the " red pot- 
tage" for which Esau sold his birth-right. Gen. xxv. 30 — 34. 
In Syria, they are eaten after having been simply parched in 
a pan over the fire. Three varieties are cultivated in France, 
" small brown," " yellowish," and the " lentil of Provence." 

Beans. — In ancient times, according to Herodotus, the bean 
was held in abhorrence by the Egyptian priesthood. It is, 
however, at the present day, no inconsiderable part of the diet 
of the poor of that country ; and Dr. Shaw states, that ir\ Bar- 
bary, beans, after they are boiled and stewed with garlic, are 
the principal food of persons of all distinctions. 

The Nigella. — This plant forms a singular exception to the 
family to which it belongs. While they are poisonous in the 
highest degree, it produces seeds which are not only aromatic, 
but possess medicinal qualilies of the most useful kind. Auso- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 27 

nius asserts of it, that it is pungent as pepper : and Pliny, that 
its seed is good for seasoning food, especially bread. It is 
cultivated in Egypt, as well as in Persia and India, for the 
sake of its seeds, which, have been used in all ages as a condi- 
ment, in the same manner as we use coriander and carraway 
seeds. 

Al-henna. — The henna is a tall shrub, endlessly multiplied 
in Egypt. The leaves are of a lengthened oval form, opposed 
to each other, and of a faint green colour. The flowers grow 
at the extremity of the branches, in long and tufted boquets ; 
the smaller ramifications which support them are red, and 
likewise opposite ; from the arm-pit cavity springs a small leaf, 
almost round, but terminating in a point ; the corolla is formed 
of four petals, curling up, and of a light yellow. Between 
each petal are two white stamina with a yellow summit: there 
is only one pistil. The pedicle, reddish at its issuing from 
the bough, dies away into a faint green. The calix is cut into 
four pieces of a tender green, up toward their extremity, which 
is reddish. The fruit, or berry, is a green capsule previous 
to its maturity ; it assumes a red tint as it ripens, and becomes 
brown when it is dried ; it is divided into four compartments, 
in which are inclosed the seeds, triangular and brown- 
coloured. The bark of the stem and of the branches is of a 
deep grey, and the wood has, internally, a light cast of yellow. 
In truth, this is one of the most grateful plants to both the sight 
and smell. The pleasing colour of its bark, the light green 
of its foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow with 
which the flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, 
are coloured, and the red tint of the ramifications which sup- 
port them, form a combination of the most agreeable efiect. 
These flowers, whose shades are very delicate, diffuse around 
the sweetest odours, throughout the gardens and the apart- 
ments which they embellish. They accordingly form a fa- 
vourite nosegay : the women take pleasure to deck themselves 
with these beautiful clusters of fragrance, to adorn their apart- 
ments with them, to carry them to their bath, to hold them in 
their hand ; in a word, to perfume their persons with them. 
They attach to their possession, which the mildness of the 
climate, and the facility of culture seldom refuse them, a value 
so high, that they would willingly appropriate it exclusively 
to themselves ; and they suffer with impatience Christian 
women and Jewesses to partake of it with them. The same 
importance seems to have been attached to this species of 
plant in ancient times. See Sol, Song, iv. 14, ■ 



28 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Aloe Soccotrina — This tree grows in the island of Soccoto- 
ra, in Egypt, of which it is a native. It bears the reputation 
of producing the best aloes. When old, it has a round stem, 
three or four feet high ; leaves of a sword form, a foot and a half 
to two feet long, sharp-edged, sawed, hard, and pungent at the 
apex, often collected in clusters at the top of the stem ; and red 
flowers tipped with green, borne in clusters on tall stalks, 
which rise erect from among the leaves. 

Cummin. — This is an umbelliferous plant of annual dura- 
tion, found wild in Egypt, Syria, and Asia, and cultivated 
from time immemorial for the sake of its agreeable aromatic 
fruit, which, like that of caraway, dill, anise, etc., possesses 
stimulating and carminative properties. The plant grows 
about a foot high, and is very little branched. As the seeds 
are suspended by delicate threads, like the nigella, when ripe 
they may be readily removed. 

Calamus Aroviaticus. — This is a species of cane which is 
sweet scented, and which grows in Egypt, Judea, Syria, Ara- 
bia, and India. The plant emits a powerful fragrance even 
while growing: and when dried, and reduced into powder, 
it forms a precious perfume. 

The Flag. — This plant is mentioned as affording a hiding- 
place for Moses, Exod. ii. 3 — 5. It is not certain what plant 
is intended ; probably the original was a general term for sea 
or river weed, of which we may suppose there was a great va- 
riety on the margin of the waters of the Nile. 

Lili/. — That the lily anciently grew in Egypt is testified 
by the hieroglyphics, among which it appears. What species, 
of the lily grew there, is, however, unknown : probably it was 
the amaryllis lutea^ with which the fields of the Levant are 
overrun. Be it what species it may, it was doubtless full of 
meaning among that people, as it was among the ancients ge- 
nerally. The fact, indeed, of its being an hieroglyphical 
representation is sufficient to prove this ; for these representa- 
tions are all fraught with meaning, though many of them are 
hard to be understood. An heraldic work, published in 
France, gives the foJlowing singular and interesting account 
of the lily as an emblem ; It is the symbol of divinity, of purity, 
and abundance, and of love; most complete in perfection, 
charity and benediction ; as that mirror of chastity, Susanna, 
is defined Susa, which signifies the " lily flower ;" the chief 
city of the Persians bearing that name for excellency. Hence 
the lily's three leaves, in the arms of France, meaneth, piety- 
justice, and charity. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTiANS. 29 

The Sycamore tree. — This tree, the ficus sycamorus of bot- 
anists, is celebrated in Palestine, Egypt, and Abyssinia, to 
the present day. It is a wide spreading tree, attains a consid- 
erable height, and exhibits a trunk of large dimensions, strik- 
ing its bulky diverging roots deep into the soil. Its fruit seems 
to have been an important article in the diet of the ancient 
Egyptians ; for the psalmist, recording in holy song the plagues 
wherewith God had visited that people, says, " He destroyed 
their sycamore trees with frost," Psa. Ixxviii. 47. Travellers 
inform us, indeed, that it constitutes the greater part of the 
diet of the people of Egypt at the present day. Give them a 
piece of bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a jug of water 
from the Nile, and they think themselves well regaled. The 
wood of the sycamore has obtained a high reputation for du- 
rability, notwithstanding its porous and spongy appearance. 
This has arisen from the circumstance that the coffins of the 
Egyptians, which were made of that wood, remained for many 
ages in a state of preservation. Dr. Shaw states, that he saw 
some mummy chests three thousand years old, and he contends 
from this fact for its extreme durability. Bruce, howeA^er, 
affirms, that some of the wood which he buried in his garden, 
perished in four years, which has given rise to a probable 
conjecture on the subject ; namely, that the preservation of the 
sycamore mummy-chests arises partly from a particular pre- 
paration, or coating of the coffins: and partly from the dry- 
ness of the climate and the sandy soil of Egypt. The wood 
of the sycamore was also used for boxes, tables, doors, and 
other objects which required large and thick planks, as well 
as for making idols and wooden statues. 

TheVine. — We learn from Scripture that Egypt was an- 
ciently celebrated for its vine trees. It does not appear, 
however, that the grapes of Egypt were so fine as those of 
Palestine ; for those which the spies brought from Eschol, as 
a proof of the fertility of the promised land, astonished the 
Hebrews, and had they seen such in Egypt, it could have 
been no matter of surprise. Bochart informs us that, in the 
east, the vine produces three crops in the course of one year. 
Thus in March, after the tree has produced the first crop of 
blossoms, the dressers cut away from it that wood which is bar- 
ren, and in the succeeding month a new shoot, bearing fruit, 
springs from the branches, Avhich being lopped also, shoots forth 
again in May, laden with the latter grapes. Those clusters, 
which blossomed successively in March, April, and May 



30 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

become ripe, and are gathered in August and the two suc- 
ceeding months. 

Besides the vine bearing good grapes, there appears to be 
a wild vine growing in Egypt, that is, the solanum incanuvi, 
or the hoary night-shade. Hasselquist says, that the Arabs call 
this plant aneb el dib, or "wolf grapes ;" that it grows much 
in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them, and that it 
likewise resembles a vine by its shrubby stalk. 

The Cypress. — The cypress, cupressus sempervire7is, ap- 
pears to have been indigenous to Egypt; for we learn from 
history that coffins and mummy cases were made of its wood. 
The tree is too well known, being cultivated in our own coun- 
try to a considerable degree of perfection, to need description. 

The Pomegranate. — The punica granatum^ or pomegra- 
nate tree, in its native state, is a lowly shrub, about eight or 
ten feet in height, extremely bushy and covered with thorns ; 
when cultivated, however, it is nearly twice that size, more 
especially in the south of Europe. The flowers differ in dif- 
ferent varieties, and while the fruit of the wild plant is only 
about the size of a walnut, that of the cultivated tree is larger 
than the largest apple. This is filled with seeds imbedded in 
a red pulp, which is the part eaten. It seems to have been 
highly esteemed by the ancients, for we find the Hebrews 
specifying it as one of the luxuries they had lost by leaving 
Egypt ; and it is enumerated by Moses, with wheat, barley, 
etc., as a recommendation of the promised land, Deut viii. 8. 

The Date Palm. — This tree is an evergreen, and, to attain 
perfection, it requires a hot climate, with a sandy soil, yet 
humid, and somewhat nitreous. Hence, its favourite place is 
along the rivers which border the hot and sandy deserts, and 
beside old wells, in the very heart of the desert itself; a cir- 
cumstance which renders the distant prospect of it a delight 
to the wanderer in those parched regions, from the assurance 
of water Avhich it conveys. Mariti says that this tree grows 
to th5 height of a man in five or six years' growth ;and this 
is a very rapid growth, if we consider that the trunk rises from 
the ground of a thickness which never increases. It appears 
to have been cultivated in Egypt in all ages of the world, and 
at the present day trees of this kind are very abundant there. 
Clarke says that the natives are chiefly engaged in the care 
of them, tying up their blossoms with bands formed of the 
foliage, to" prevent their being torn ofT, and scattered by the 
wind. 

The trunk of the date palm tree served for beams, either 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 31 

entire or split in half: while the gereet, or branches, 
were, as they are now, used in making wicker baskets, bed- 
steads, coops, and ceilings of rooms, answering for every 
purpose for which laths or other thin wood-work might be 
required. 

The Doum Palm. — Instead of one trunk without branches, 
the doum throws up two trunks, or more properly, branches, 
at the same time from the soil. From each of these spring 
two branches, which are also frequently bifurcated more 
towards the top of the tree. The terminal branches are 
crowned with bundles of from twenty to thirty palm leaves 
from six to nine feet in length. The fruit of the doum is 
most essentially different from that of the date palm. The 
tree grows in Upper Egypt, but seldom in the lower country. 
The wood is more solid than that of the date palm, and will 
even bear to be cut into planks, of which the doors in Upper 
Egypt are frequently made. 

Barley.— Ot all cultivated grain, barley comes to perfection 
in the greatest variety of climates, and is consequently found 
over the greatest extent of the habitable globe. The heat and 
the drought of tropical climates does not destroy it, and it 
ripens in the short summers of those which verge on the 
frigid zone. In Egypt, were the climate is mild, two crops 
may be reaped in the same year ; one in the spring from 
seed sown in the autumn, and one in the autumn from seed 
sown in the spring. This explains a passage in Scripture, 
which speaks of the destruction of this plant in one of the ten 
plagues, Exod. ix. 31, 32. Commentators are generally 
agreed that this even happened in March : the first crop of 
barley was therefore nearly ripe, and the flax ready to gather ; 
but the wheat and the rye sown in spring were not sufficiently 
advanced in growth to be injured. This is confirmed by the 
testimony of modern travellers. Dr. Richardson, writing in 
Egypt in the early part of March, says, " The barley and 
flax are now advanced ; the former is in the ear, and the 
latter is boiled, and it seems to be about this season of the 
year that God brought the plague of thunder and hail upon 
the Egyptians, to punish the guilty Pharaoh, who had 
hardened his presumptuous heart against the miracles of 
Omnipotence." 

Rye. — It is uncertain whether the Hebrew KusemethjVihxch. 
occurs Exod. ix. 32, and which is there spoken of as anciently 
growing in Egypt, signifies rye. Most commentators con- 
tend that it was spelt, which the word is usually rendered . 



32 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAN:5. 

Other versions. No plant, however, bearing this name grows 
now in Egypt ; and, as the modern state of agriculture in 
that country affords no data to assist us in our conjectures on 
the ancient agriculture, it is as likely to have been rye as 
spelt. 

Dr. Shaw supposes that rice is the grain intended by the 
original, and cites Pliny as affirming that rice, or oryza, was 
the olyra of the ancients. Hasselquist, however, states that 
the Egyptians learned the cultivation of rice under the caliphs. 

Ensete. — We are told by Horus Apollo, that the Egyp- 
tians, wishing to describe the antiquity of their origin, 
figured a bundle of papyrus, as an emblem of the food they 
first subsisted on, when the use of wheat was yet unknown 
among them. Bruce affirms this to be the ensete, an Ethio- 
pian plant, which was cultivated in Egypt till the general use 
of wheat superseded it as a diet. The stalk of this herba- 
ceous plant, when boiled, has the taste of the best wheaten 
bread not perfectly baked, and if eaten with milk or butter, is 
wholesome, nourishing, and easy of digestion. This symbol, 
therefore, by no means proves that the ancient Egyptians ate 
plants before they discovered corn, but only that ensete was 
one of the articles they used for food, and which occasionally 
supplied the place of wheat. 

Lotus. — The Egyptian lotus, an aquatic plant, and a species 
of water lily, was also used by the ancient Egyptians for 
food. Herodotus thus describes it : " The water lily grows 
in the inundated lands of Egypt. The seed of this flower, 
which resembles that of the poppy, they bake and make into 
a kind of bread. They also use the root of this plant, which 
is round, of an agreeable flavour, and about the size of an 
apple. This the Egyptians call the lotus." Theophraslus, 
in his History of Plants, bears similar testimony. It is the 
nym.'phma lotus of Linnaeus, and the colocassia of Pliny. It 
is mentioned by Prosper Alpinus, under the name of culcas. 
At the present day it is called eddow, and the inundated 
places of the Nile produce an abundance of it. Its root is 
also the food of numbers both in the East and West Indies, 
and in the South Sea Islands. 

Holcus Sorghum. — This plant, which in Latin is called 
Milium, a name which points to a stalk bearing a thousand 
grains, appears to have been known in the early ages of the 
world in the countries bordering upon Egypt, and we may 
safely conclude that it was known in that country also. It is 
now extensively cultivated there, and three harvests are ob- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. ^ 

tained in one year. In the countries south of Eygpt, It is 
frequently to be met with, from sixteen to twenty feet in 
height, and wheat being almost unknown there, both man 
and beast subsist chiefly upon it. In Egypt, it forms part of 
the diet of the poorer classes. But that whi&h forms the chief 
food of the Egyptians is, what it has been from the remotest 
period of time, bread-corn. 

Wheat. — We learn from the interesting history of Joseph, 
as well as from the narrative of the ten plagues, that Egypt 
was famous in those days for this species of grain. Some, 
indeed, point out that country as the parent of wheat ; and, as 
the earliest mention of it is connected with that country, and 
it might have extended from thence to the islands of the 
Mediterranean and. to Greece and her colonies, the conjecture 
is probable. 

The matchless wealth of Egypt arose from its corn, which, 
even in almost universal famine, enabled it to support neigh- 
bouring nations, as it did under Joseph's wise administration. 
In latter ages, it was the vast granary of Rome and Constan- 
tinople. A calumny was raised against St. Athanasius, 
charging him with having threatened to prevent in future the 
importation of corn into Constantinople from Alexandria, 
which greatly incensed the emperor Constantine against him, 
because he knew that his capital city could not subsist without 
the corn exported from Egypt thither. The same reason 
induced the emperors of Rome to take so great a care of 
Egypt, which they considered as the nursing mother of the 
world's metropolis.* The same river, however, which 
enabled Egypt to feed the two most populous cities in the 
world, sometimes reduced its own inhabitants to the most 
terrible famine ; and it is astonishing that Joseph's wise fore- 
sight, which in fruitful years had made provision for seasons 
of sterility, should not have taught these wise politicians to 

* If what Diodorus affirms to be true, that in his day, Egypt containeu 
thirteen millions of people, and that the population consisted before his 
time of seventeen millions, the fertility of Egypt must have been prodi- 
gious indeed. And the wonder is heightened, when we reflect on the 
above-mentioned facts, that it exported vast quantities of grain to Rome, 
and afterwards to Constantinople. Eollin states the exportation to Rome 
to have been twenty millions of bushels of wheat, Vvrhich is equal to 
2,500,000 quarters. Such a quantity was more than sufficient to have 
supplied the whole population of Rome, though it should have doubled 
that of the metropolis of England at the present day. His error arises 
from mistranslation. The word " modi," which he translates bushels, 
according to Arbuthnot and Adam, signifies pecks. Hence 635.000 quar- 
ters only were exported to Rome annually. 



34 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 

adopt similar precautions against the contingency of the 
failure of the Nile. Pliny, in his panegyric upon Trajan, 
paints with great strength the extremity to which that country 
was reduced by a famine in the reign of that prince, and the 
relief he generously afforded to it. " The Egyptians," says 
he, " who gloried that they needed neither sun nor rain to 
produce their corn, and who believed they might confidently 
contest the prize of plenty with the most fruitful countries of 
the world, were condemned to an unexpected drought and a 
fatal sterility, from the greatest part of their territories being 
deserted and left unwatered by the Nile, whose inundation is 
the source and standard of their abundance. They then im- 
plored that assistance from their prince, which they had been 
accustomed to expect only from their river. The delay of 
their relief was no longer than that which employed a courier 
to bring the melancholy news to Rome ; and one would have 
imagined that this misfortune had befallen them only to dis- 
play with greater lustre the generosity and goodness of Cesar. 
It was an ancient and general opinion, that our city could not 
subsist without provisions drawn from Egypt. This vain and 
proud nation boasted, that though conquered, they neverthe- 
less fed their conquerors ; that, by means of their river, either 
abundance or scarcity were entirely at their disposal. But 
we now have returned the Nile his own harvests, and given 
him back the provisions he sent us. Let the Egyptians be, 
then, convinced by their own experience, that they are not 
necessary to us, and are only our vassals. Let them know 
that their ships do not so mucli bring us the provision we 
stand in need of, as the tribute which they owe us. And let 
them never forget that we can do without them, but that they 
can never do without us. This most fruitful province had been 
ruined, had it not worn the Roman chains ! The Eygptians, 
in their sovereign, found a deliverer and a father. Astonished 
at the sight of their granaries, filled without any labour of 
their own, they were at a loss to 'know to whom they owed 
this foreign and gratuitous plenty. The famine of a people, 
though at such a distance from us, yet so speedily stopped, 
served only to let them feel the advantage of living under 
our empire. The Nile may, in other times, have diffused 
more plenty in Egypt, but never more glory upon us. May 
Heaven, content with this proof of the people's patience, and 
the prince's generosity, restore for ever back to Egypt its 
ancient fertility." 

The reproach of this ancient author to the Egyptians for 



HISXOE.'i OF THE EGYPTIANS. 35 

their vain regard to the inundations of the Nile, points out 
one of their peculiar characteristics ; and which is aptly and 
beautifully illustrated by the prophet Ezekiel in a passage 
wherein God speaks to Pharaoh-hophra, or Apries, thus: 
" Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the 
great dragon that Ueth in the midst of his rivers, which hath 
said. My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself" 
Ezek. xxix. 3. The Almighty perceived an insupportable 
pride in the heart of this prince, a sense of security, and con- 
fidence in the inundations of the Nile, as though the effects 
of this inundation had been owing to nothing but his own 
care and labour, or those of his predecessors, and not, as in 
reality they were, dependent on the gracious influences of 
Heaven. So prone is man by nature to forget the source 
-from whence all blessings flow. 

Besides the plants enumerated above, which grew anciently 
in Egypt, at the present day the following are successfully 
cultivated in that country: winter plants, which are sovm 
after the inundation, and reaped in about three or four months 
after ; peas, vetches, lupins, clover, coleseed, lettuce, poppy, 
and tobacco : summer plants, which are raised by artificial 
irrigation, by means of water wheels, and other machinery j 
Indian corn, sugar cane, cotton, indigo, and madder. Rice is 
sown in the spring, and gathered in October, chiefly near 
Lake Menzaleh. Fruit trees, which grow mostlyin gardens 
near the principal towns ; the mulberry, and Seville orange, 
which ripens in January; apricots in May; peaches and 
plums in June ; apples, pears, and caroobs at the end of June; 
grapes at the beginning of July ; figs in July ; prickly pears 
at the end of July; pomegranates and lemons in August; 
citrus medica in September ; oranges in October ; and sweet 
lemons and banana in November. Some of these plants may 
have grown anciently in Egypt, but we know of no data 
whereon to make such an assertion. 

GOLD AND SILVER MINES. 

Egypt was proverbial for its riches. See Exod. xii. 35 ; 
Ezek. xxxii. 12 ; Heb. xi. 26. This arose partly from its 
fertility, and partly from its extensive commerce. But that 
which chiefly rendered the people rich in gold and silver, for 
which they were celebrated, was their mines of these precious 
metals. Their gold mines were in the desert of the upper 



36 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

country. Their position, still known to the Arabs, is about 
s. E. from Bahayreh, a village opposite the town of Edfou, in 
latitude 24° 58', on Apollinopolis Magna, and at a distance of 
nearly ten days' journey from that place in the mountains of 
the Bishareeh. Arab authors place them at Gebal Ollagee, 
a mountain situated in the land of Bega, which word points 
out the Bisharee desert, being still used by the tribe as their 
own name. The gold lies in veins of quartz, in the rocks, 
bordering an inhospitable valley and its adjacent ravines ; but 
the small quantity they are capable of producing by immense 
labour, added to the difficulties of procuring water, and other 
local impediments, would' probably render the re-opening of 
them an unprofitaijle speculation. In the time of Aboolfidda, 
indeed, who lived about a.d. 1334, they only just covered their 
expenses, from which circumstance, they have ever since 
been abandoned by the Arab caliphs. The toil of extracting 
the gold in ancient times, according to the account of 
Agatharchides, was immense, and the loss of life in working 
the mines appalling. 

He thus describes the process: "The kings of Egypt 
compelled many poor people together with their wives and 
children, to labour in the mines, wherein they underwent 
more suffering than can well be imagined. The hard rocks 
of the gold mountains being cleft by heating them with burn- 
ing wood, the workmen then apply their iron implements. 
The young and active, with iron hammers, break the rock in 
pieces, and form a number of narrow passages, not running 
in straight lines, but following the direction of the vein of 
gold, which is as irregular in its course as the roots of a tree. 
The workmen have lights fastened on their forehead, by the 
aid of which they cut their way through the rock, always fol- 
lowing the white veins of stone. To keep them to their task, 
an overseer stands by, ready to inflict a blow on the lazy. 
The material that is thus loosened, is carried out of the o-al- 
leries by boys, and received at the mouth of the mine by old 
men and the Vv'eaker laboijrers, who then carry it to the 
.Epnpta or inspectors. These are young men, under thirty 
years of age, strong and vigorous, who pound the broken 
fragments with a stone pestle, till there is no piece larger than 
a pea. It is then placed on grinding-stones, or a kind of mill- 
stone, and women, three on each side, work at it till it is re- 
duced to fine powder. . , . The fine powder is then passed 
on to a set of workmen called Sdlayigeca^ who place it on a 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 37 

finely-polished board, not lying- in a flat position, but a little 
sloping. The Sellangee after pouring some water on the 
board, rubs it with his hand, at first gently, but afterwards 
more vigorously, by which process the lighter earthy parti- 
cles slide off along the slope of the board, and the heavier 
parts are left behind. He then takes soft sponges, which he 
presses on the board rather gently, which causes the lighter 
particles to adhere to the sponge, while the heavy shining 
grains still keep their place on the board, owing to their 
weight. From the Sellangees the gold particles are trans- 
ferred to the roasters, who measure and weigh all that they 
receive, before putting it into an earthen jar. With the gold 
particles they mix lead in a certain proportion, lumps of salt, 
a little tin, and barley bran, and putting a cover on the jar 
that fits tight, and smearing it all over, they burn it in a fur- 
nace for five days and nights without intermission. On 
the sixth day, they cool the vessel, and take out the gold, 
which they find somewhat diminished in quantity : all 
the other substances entirely disappear. These mines were 
worked under the ancient kings of Egypt, but abandoned 
during the occupation of the country by the Ethiopians, and 
afterw^ards by the Medes and Persians. Even at the present 
day, (about b.c. 150,) we may find copper chisels or imple- 
ments in the galleries, (the use of iron not being known at 
that time,)* and innumerable skeletons of the wretched be- 
ings who lost their lives in the passages of the mine. * The 
excavations are of great extent, and reach down to the sea 
coast." 

This process appears to be represented in the paintings of 
tombs executed during the reign of Osirtasen, and some of 
the ancient Pharaohs. We are not informed when they 
were first discovered, but Ave may suppose that the mines were 
worked at the earliest periods of the Egyptian monarchy. 
The total of their annual produce is said by Hecata)us to 
have been recorded in a temple founded by a monarch of the 
18th dynasty. He also notices an immense sum produced 
annually from the silver mines of Egypt, which amounted 
to 3,200 myriads of minse, each of which was 1 lb. 4 oz. 6 
dwt. English weight. In a sculpture of Thebes, also, Osy- 
mandas is represented dedicating to the deity the gold 
and silver he annually received from the mines through- 

* This author must, therefore, mean copper in the early part of this 
extract, though he uses a word properly rendered iron. 
VOL. I. A 



38 HISTORY OF THE EGYFXlAiSS. 

out Egypt, which in silver alone amounted to this enormous 
sum. 

Besides these mines, there were others of copper, lead, 
iron, and emeralds, all of which were valuable. These 
mines still exist in the deserts of the Red Sea. The same 
districts also abound in sulphur, which was most probably 
made use of by the ancient Egyptians. 



CHAPTER II. 



TOPOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF EGYPT. 



In ancient times, Egypt comprehended a great number of 
cities. Herodotus relates, indeed, that under Amasis, who 
lived about 570 years b. c, there were 20,000 inhabited cities 
in that country. Diodorus, however, with more judgment 
and caution, calculates 18,000 large villages and towns ; and 
states that, under Ptolemy Lagus, they amounted to upwards 
of 30,000, a number which remained even at the period when 
he wrote, about 44 years b.c, when the population of Egypt 
was reduced from seventeen to thirteen millions of inhabi- 
tants. According to Theocritus, the number of towns, at an 
earlier period, was 33,339 ; he may here, however, include 
some of the neighbouring provinces belonging to Egypt, as 
he comprehends Ethiopia, Libya, Syria, Arabia, Pamphylia, 
Cilicia, Caria, and Lycia, within the dominions of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus. Other authors may also occasionally have 
extended the name of Egypt to its possessions in Libya, Ethi- 
opia, and Syria ; since, making every allowance for the flour- 
ishing condition of this highly fertile country, the number 
of towns they mention is too disproportionate for the sole 
valley of Egypt. Our knowledge of the more ancient cities 
of Egypt is very limited, and that knowledge for the most 
part is preserved by existing remains. Among the most re- 
markable of these cities is 

NO, NO-AMMON, DIOSPOLIS, OR THEBES. 

Thebes was indeed the most ancient capital and renowned 
city of Egypt. It was probably built by the first settlers, 
Misraim and his family, whence Egypt is generally styled 
" the land of Misraim" in the original Scriptures, though 
usually rendered the land of Egypt. The origin of the city 



40 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

is certainly lost in the remote infancy of human settlements 
and institutions. 

The Egyptian name of the city was No, Ezek- xxx. 14; 
.0 which was added Amon, or Amoun, which was, accord- 
ing to Herodotus, a title of Jove among the Egyptians. This 
would suggest that the city denoted was the chief seat of the 
worship of Jupiter Amraon. And such was No ; for the 
Septuagint renders it, Ezek. xxx. 15, by Diospolis, " The city 
of Jove," on account of its devotion to the worship of Jupiter. 
Dr. Hales says, that it has been mistakenly supposed that the 
term Anion, or Amoun, denotes Ham, the youngest son of 
Noah, and the father of Misraim ; and he adds, that its real 
signification is " Truth," or " Veracity,-' whence the Lord is 
styled yEZ Amunah, " God of truth," Deut. xxxii. 4. Plato 
says, that " the secret and invisible creative power supreme 
among the Egyptians was called Ammon ;" and Plutarch, 
that the term signified " hidden." This was also an epithet 
of the true God : " Why askest thou thus after my name, 
seeing it is secret?" Judg. xiii. 18 ; and it accords with the 
inscription on the temple of Neith, or " Wisdom," at Sais, in 
Lower Egypt, as recorded by Plutarch : 

I AJI ALL THAT HATH BEEN, "AND IS, AND WILL BE ; 
AND JIY VEIL NO MORTAL YET UNCOVERED. 
MY OFFSPRING IS THE SUN. 

This may explain the ancient aphorism, " Truth lies hid 
m a well;" as primarily relating to the incomprehensible 
nature of the Supreme Being, "the only true God," John 
xvii. 3, who was styled by the Egyptians Scotos agnoslon^ 
meaning " darkness that cannot be pierced," and by the 
Athenians, Agnnstos Theos, " The Unknown God." See 
Acts xvii. 23. The Grecian name of this city, Thebes, was 
probably derived from Thebeh, " an ark,"' like Noah's, the 
memory of which would naturally be preserved by the first 
settlers after the deluge in all parts of the earth. Bruce, in- 
deed, observes, that " the figure of the temples in Thebes do 
not seem to be far removed from the idea given us of the ark." 

Thebes was the metropolis of the country of Egypt ; far 
eclipsing the metropolitan cities which arose in Middle and 
Lower Egypt. It was venerated by the ancient Egyptians as 
the parent city, the seat of sacred mysteries, and of learning 
and the arts. Long after Memphis had become the politicnl 
metropolis of the united kingdom, and from its more advan- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 41 

tageous situation for trade had diverted from Thebes the 
wealth it derived from commerce, it survived ia splendour 
and magnificence. Even at the present day, it has been said, 
while Zoph, and Zoan, and On, have scarcely left behind a 
vestige of their existence, the desolate temples of Thebes re- 
main in almost all their pristine glory, and promise to carry 
down the records of her glory and desolation to the end of 
time. 

The. poet Homer, in his immortal verse, speaks of the 
great wealth of Thebes, and mentions its hundred gates, 
from each of which issued 200 men with horses and cha- 
riots, etc. This poetical allusion has been taken by some for 
history. Diodorus, however, intimates that the force was not 
raised in the vicinity of Thebes; and with reference to the 
hundred gates, he states the conjecture of some persons that 
the city derived its title of Hecatompylos from the numerous 
propyla, or gateways of temples and public buildings. The 
notion of its having gates is strongly objected to by some tra- 
vellers, inasmuch as not the least indication can be discovered 
that the city was enclosed by a wall. 

Concerning the buildings of the city we have no detailed 
description from ancient sources, but only of the public monu- 
ments. It is probable, however, that in this and other ancient 
cities of Egypt, while the temples were erected with such 
strong materials as would resist very long the power of time, 
the mass of private dwellings were of a very lowly character, 
such as mud or brick. When we speak, indeed, of the splen- 
dour of ancient cities, we must understand it exclusively of 
its public buildings and monuments, and not of handsome 
streets and comfortable habitations, which a modern city 
exhibits. 

But we not only learn from profane history that Thebes 
was one of the most powerful cities in days of yore ; Scrip- 
ture bears testimony to the same fact. There is a striking 
passage in Nahum iii. 8 — 10, wherein there is an implied 
comparison between No, or Thebes, and Nineveth, with an 
apparent preference given to the former. The prophet in- 
terrogates Nineveh thus : " Art thou better than populous 
No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters 
round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wail was 
from the sea?" And then in the next verse he says, ''Ethi- 
opia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite." How 
strong and great Thebes was, history and its existing monu- 
ments testify ; and its population may be inferred from its be- 

4* 



42 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

ing cal ed " populous," in comparison with the great city 
Nineveh, as well as from the accounts of its extent. These 
accounts differ greatly, but D'Anville, analyzing the various 
statements, deduces that its circuit was equal to twenty-seven 
Roman miles, being an extent to which few modern capitals 
approach, and which London itself does not greatly exceed. 

Of the wealth of Thebes some idea may be formed from 
the accounts of the spoils obtained by the Persians under 
Cambyses, and the quantity of precious metal collected after 
the burning of the city. This last, according to Diodorus, 
amounted to upwards of 300 talents, about 26,020 pounds 
troy, of gold, and 2,300 talents, or 199,518 pounds of silver ; 
the former worth 1,248,960/., and the latter 598,544Z. ster- 
ling. This destruction is said to have levelled not only the 
private house, but the greater part of its numerous temples. 

But this was not the first time that Thebes had suffered 
from the desolations of war. The prophet Nahum intimates, 
in the passage referred to, that it was devastated before 
Nineveh. After drawing the comparison between the two 
cities, he says, " Yet was she carried away, she went into 
captivity : her young children also were dashed in pieces at 
the top of all the streets ; and they cast lots for her honourable 
men,* and all her great men were bound in chains." This 
corresponds to the first blow which the splendour of Thebes 
received when the Ethiopians invaded Egypt, 769 years b. g. 
It suffered again, very probably, when Nebuchadnezzar 
ravaged Egypt, 570 years b. c, after which it was burned by 
the Persian king. But it even then survived, and was still a 
city of some note. Eighty-six years b. c. it was indeed of 
such strength and consequence, as to dare to rebel against 
Ptolemy Lathyrus, and it endured a three years' siege before 
it was taken and plundered. It was again punished for re- 
bellion by Gallus, in the reign of Augustus ; after which the 
zeal of the early Christians led them to deface and destroy, 
as much as lay in their power, its remaining monuments, on 
account of the outrageous idolatry there displayed. But some 
of its monuments still remain, testifying at once to its ancient 
grandeur and to the truth of the inspired volume, which fore- 
told its destruction. See Jer. xlvi. and Ezek. xxx. 14 — 16. 

The ruins of Thebes, as described by travellers, testify an 
extent of magnificence of architectural design almost without 
a parallel. Karnac and Luxor are situated on the eastern 

* It was customary with many of the ancient nations to cast lots for 
the principal captives who were taken In war. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 4S 

side of Thebes, distant from each other about two miles. 
Karnac, which is the largest edifice in Egypt, was dedicated 
to Priapus. The mole is 1 40 paces in length, and twenty- 
five in thickness. • It leads to a court 1 10 paces in length, and 
the same in breadth. Two ranges of six columns conduct to 
a portico of 136 columns. The two middle ranges of these 
are eleven feet in diameter, the others are seven feet, the 
length of the vestibule is seventy-eight paces, the breadth 
twenty-five ; this leads into a court where there are four 
obelisks, and twelve colossal figures. Two other courts 
conduct to what are supposed to be the apartments of the 
kings ; besides which, there are many extensive buildings 
connected with the palace by avenues of sphinxes, lions, and 
rams. Some of these avenues extend towards Luxor. The 
entrance to Luxor is composed of two obelisks, which at 
present rise seventy feet above the surface of the ground, and 
are understood to be about thirty below it ; two colossal 
statues of black granite, each thirty-eight feet high ; and two 
masses of building of an oblong shape, and tapering sides 
fifty-five feet high, and covered with hieroglyphics. These 
large masses are so crowded together that from the front of 
the moles to that of the obelisks the distance is only fourteen 
paces. On the western side of Thebes, is the site of Mem- 
nonium, and the statue of red granite thrown down by Cam- 
byses. The space between the Memnonium and Medineet 
Abou, about a mile and a quarter, is covered with fragments 
of Colossus. The tomb of Osyraandas is supposed by some 
to have been here. The palace of Mendineet Abou has a 
covered passage still preserved. This is fifty-five paces long, 
and sixty-five broad, and is formed by four rows of columns 
placed on the four sides of the court. These columns are 
forty-five feet high, and seven feet in diameter. The tombs 
of the kings are situated in a narrow valley between the 
mountains of Libya, about four miles from the river. Strabo 
says, that there were seventeen tombs remaining in his time ; 
and if we include a grotto near the Memnonium, the same 
number still remains. 

From the nature of the sculptures, and the distribution of 
the apartments, Karnac, Luxor, and Memnonium, are sup- 
posed to have been residences of the kings of Egypt. All 
other buildings are considered as having been appropriated 
to religious purposes. Some, however, think, from the na- 
ture of the authority exercised by the Egyptian priesthood 
that the palace and the temple were commonly united. 



44 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 



ZOAN, OR TANIS. 



Zoan is rendered by the Septuagint, Tanin, or Tajiis, 
which was a city of Egypt, situated near the mouth of one 
of the branches of the Nile, thence called GBtinm Taniticum. 
It appears to have been one of the most ancient capitals of 
Egypt. The sacred historian tells us, indeed, that it was built 
only seven years after Hebron, the chief residence of the 
patriarch Abraham and his family, Numb. xiii. 22 : and that 
it was one of the royal cities, we gather from the fact that the 
plagues of Egypt were inflicted " in the field of Zoan." 
Psa. Ixxviii. 12. Even in the days of Isaiah, it is mentioned 
as a seat of government. " Surely the princes of Zoan are 
fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become 
brutish," Isa. xix. 11. As, however, in verse 13, Noph, or 
Memphis, is similarly noticed, and as it is certain there were 
not at that time two kings in such close vicinity, it is supposed 
that the kings of that period divided their residence between 
Zoan and Noph, as those of Persia did between Susa and 
Ecbatana. Bryant and others think that Tanis was too dis- 
tant from the land of Goshen to have been the scene of the 
miracles recorded in Exodus, and they look for Zoan at Sais, 
which Bryant determines to have been situated a little above 
, the point of the Delta, not far from Heliopolis, and therefore 
bordering close on the land of Goshen. But this is restrict- 
ing the regions of Goshen within narrower limits than are 
assigned it by the best authorities whom we have followed in 
our description of that land; and therefore the Septuagint 
may be correct. 

ON, OR HELIOPOLIS. 

On, which is mentioned as early as in the days of Joseph, 
who married the daughter of the high priest of that city. Gen. 
xli. 45, is noticed under several names in Scripture. The 
Hebrew name for it was Bethshemesh, or " house of the sun," 
which, or " city of the sun," is the meaning of all the names 
given to the place, except that of Aven, or Bethaven, Ezek. 
XXX. 17, Hos, X. 5, which means " vanity," or " house of 
vanity," a nick-name the Hebrews were accustomed to apply 
to noted places of idolatrous worship. The Greek name of 
the place was Heliopolis, by which name the Septuagint ver- 
sion renders it, a rendering that has not been disputed. 

The city derived its name from the worship of the sun, to 



HISTORY OP THE EGYPTIANS. 45 

which a celebrated temple was here consecrated. It was a 
famous seat of the Egyptian science and learning. Herodo- 
tus says, that the Heliopolitans were reckoned the wisest of 
the Egyptians ; and, according to Berosus, it was the city of 
Moses, which well accounts for his scriptural character, that 
he '' was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," Acts 
vii. 22. It is certain that in the college of priests at this 
place, Eudoxus, Plato, and Herodotus received their instruc- 
tion in astronomy, philosophy, and history ; and in all that 
learning of the Egyptians which sacred and profane writers 
concur in celebrating. 

Very little is known of the history of Heliopolis. Josephus 
says, that it was given to the Israelites for a habitation when 
they first went down into Egypt ; but this is not mentioned 
in Scripture. Its destruction was foretold by the prophets, 
Jeremiah, chap, xliii. 13, and Ezekiel, chap, xxx. 17 ; which 
predictions were probably accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar. 

Heliopolis was situated in the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, 
about five miles below the point of the ancient Delta. Its 
form and size may be inferred from the remaining mounds 
of the wall of circuit, from which it would appear to have 
been of an irregular shape, and in its extent not exceeding 
3,750 by 2,870 feet. The houses stood on the north side, 
covering a space of about 575,000 feet ; to the south of which 
stood the temple of the sun. There are now no ruins of an- 
cient buildings unless the mounds be considered such, but 
there are still existing many fragments of the materials em- 
ployed in their construction. An obelisk still stands entire 
upon the spot, which, from its great antiquity, has received 
much attention from the learned. In the adjoining villages 
there are many fragments of antiquity, which have evidently 
been removed from thence, and one standing in its immediate 
vicinity bears the name of Matarieh, signifying "fresh 
water ;" which name is taken from a spring of excellent 
Avater, supposed to be the same as " the fountain of the sun" 
of ancient days. 

PITHOM AND RAMESES. 

Pithom and Rameses are mentioned, Exod. i. 1 1, as having 
been built by the Hebrews, for the Egyptian monarch under 
whom they were oppressed, for " treasure" or store cities. 
Authors vary in their opinions concerning the sites of Pithom 
and Rameses. Benjamin of Ti^dela, in the twelfth century 



46 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

was informed by the Jews that the latter was the same as 
Heliopolis ; but Niebuhr thinks tiiat it lay to the north-west 
of it, about four leagues from Cairo, in the way to Suez, 
where there is a heap of ruins, called Tel el Jhud, or Tourbet 
el Jhud. As the land of Goshen is also called " the land of 
Rameses," we may conclude, that the town of Rameses was 
in that district, and that it either gave or received from it, its 
name. We may mention, that some authors conceive that 
Pithom and Rameses were the names of two kings of Egypt, 
but this is by no means a well founded theory. 

" SIN," OR PELUSIDM. 

In Arabic, the term " sin" signifies mud, and was there- 
fore the same as Pelusium, from pelos, mud. By the prophet 
Ezekiel, who predicted its overthrow, chap. xxx. 15, it is 
called " the strength of Egypt," and by Suidas, the " key of 
Egypt," or, its strong barrier on the side of Syria and 
Arabia. But notwithstanding its strength, according to the 
prediction of the prophet, it is laid prostrate by the hand of 
time and the destroyer, 

PIBESETH, OR BUBASTUS. 

By the Septuagint, Pibeseth is regarded as the famous cit\ 
of Bubastis, on the Pelusian branch of the Nile ; whence 
this branch, which is the eastern, was indiscriminately called 
the Bubastic or the Pelusiac. The city derived its name 
from a magnificent temple dedicated to the troddess Bubastis, 
whom Herodotus identifies with Diana. The site still bears 
the name of Td Bastah, but the great mass of ruins is some- 
what more than half a mile west of the Tel, at Chobrah and 
Heryeh. There is no edifice remaining. All is one scene 
of desolation, testifying at once to its ancient splendour, and 
to the truth of Holy Writ, which foretells its destruction. 
" The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by 
the sword : and these cities shall go into captivity," Ezek 
xxx. 17. 

T.YHAIirAISES, TAIIPANES, OR HaNES. 

This city was the same as the Daphnnc Pelusiacse, noticed 
by Herodotus. The prophet Jeremiah resided here in his 
exile, Jer. xliii. 8. Isaiah abridged it to Hanes, T.sn. xxx. 4. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 47 

The former, while there, under a significant type, predicted 
the conquest of Egypt by the Babylonians, which prediction 
was verified by Nebuchadnezzar. 



The name Migdol signifies " a tower," and may have 
been common to several places distinguished by objects of 
that kind. There appears, indeed, from Scripture, to have 
been two cities of that name ia ancient times. Thus the pro- 
phet Jeremiah represents one as belonging to Egypt Proper, 
see ch:i,i. xlvi. 14 ; and in the neighbourhood of Tahpanes, 
or Daphiij3. This favours the supposition of its being the 
present Migdol ; and Bochart observes on this text, that we 
find the places named exactly in the order of the distance 
from .Tudea : first, Migdol, or Magdolus ; secondly, Tahpan- 
hes, or Daphnse ; thirdly, Noph, or Memphis ; and, lastly, 
the district of Pathros, or Thebais. We may presume this 
city to have been that which Herodotus mentions under that, 
name, and which the itinerary of Antoninus reckons a little 
to the south of the Delta, about twelve miles from Pelusium. 
But this was too far distant from the Red Sea to be in the 
route of the Israelites when departing from Egypt ; and 
therefore we may conclude that there was a second Migdol 
in Lower Egypt, towards the Red Sea, and at which the 
Israelites encamped. See Exod. xiv. 2. 

NOPH, MEMOPH, OR MEMPHIS. 

Memphis was the renowned capital of Lower Egypt. On 
what site it stood, however, has been much disputed. Dr. 
Shaw, and others, contend that it must be sought at Ghizeh, 
nearly opposite to Old Cairo ; but other eminent travellers 
and geographers, comparing the statements in ancient authors 
with existing appearances and traditions, have fixed its posi- 
tion with greater probability considerably more to the south, 
near the village of Metrahenny, on the western bank of the 
Nile. On this spot there are indications of extensive ruins in 
the form of mounds, channels, and blocks of granite, many of 
which are covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics, and 
which are considered, in the locality, to form the remains of 
Menf, or Memphis, the royal seat of the Pharaohs. 

We have seen, in the article Thebes, that Memphis super- 
seded that city as the capital of Egypt. To explain this, we 



48 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

would observe, that Egj^ptian traditions, as preserved by the 
Greek historians, and confirmed by modern research, state, 
that Upper Egypt was the first settled and brought under cul- 
tivation. From thence colonies proceeded into Middle and 
Lower Egypt, which became the parents of other colonies, 
till the whole was settled. The principal of these colonies, it 
would appear, soon assumed or acquired the character of in- 
dependent states or kingdoms, each with its own metropolis ; 
and Memphis seems to have been the earliest of those settle- 
ments below the Thebais, as the seat of such a state or king- 
dom. According to Herodotus, it was founded by Menes, 
the first king of Egypt, who turned the channel of the river, 
and built the city in the ancient bed, where the strait between 
the Arabian and Libyan mountains is narrowest. This state- 
ment, in the opinion of many travellers, is corroborated by 
the actual appearance of the river at the spot where, accord- ' 
ing to this historian, the stream was " dyked off;" namely, at 
100 stades, or about twelve miles, above Memphis. Herodo- 
tus thought that the valley above Memphis, where it widens, 
was once a bay of the sea, but was gradually raised by the 
alluvions of the Nile, which also in his opinion formed the 
Delta. This opinion seems to have been formed by a mis- 
take as to the meaning of a passage in Homer ; but it would 
confirm the supposition that the Mediterranean was once \ 
much higher than at present, and that it was lowered by the 
disruption of the straits of Gibraltar. 

At what time Memphis became the paramount metropolis 
of Egypt, it would be difficult to state ; but as the capital of 
Lower Egypt, and as the metropolis of the country, it would 
appear that Noph, or Memphis, was the great city of the 
Pharaohs with which the Old Testament Hebrews were best 
acquainted, and to which there are the most frequent refer- 
ences in Scripture, from the time that good old Israel went 
down into Egypt to the days of the prophet Jeremiah. At 
the former date, it was, probably, the capital of that part of 
Egypt with which the Hebrews were most familiar ; and at 
the latter, it still remained as the metropolis, notwithstanding 
that, since the reign of Psammetichus, the kings of Egypt had 
made Sais the usual seat of their residence. 

The wealth and the glory of Memphis are spoken of by 
most ancient writers ; but concerning the details little or no- 
thing is recorded ; and Noph is so utterly waste, according 
.to the prediction of the prophet, Jer. xlvi. 19, that the de- 
ficiency cannot be supplied from existing remains, as at 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 49 

Thebes. Its magnificent temples are, however, mentioned, 
particularly those of Apis and Vulcan ; and Diodorus de- 
scribes the city as about 150 stades, or between seventeen and 
eighteen miles, in circumference. There are, moreover, ibt 
mains of a different and not less striking kind, which denote 
its ancient grandeur. These are the pyramids ; for the situ- 
ation of Memphis, regarded as near Metrahenny, is central 
with respect to these far-famed structures, being as it were in 
the midst of them ; and it is to be observed, that ancient his- 
torians usually considered the pyramids as pertaining to 
Memphis. Other monuments marking the city itself, save 
that of the mounds, a few fragments of granite, some sub- 
struction, and a colossal statue of Ramases ii., there are none j 
so completely has the prediction of its desolation been accom? 
plished. This desolation is the more remarkable when we 
consider that the glory of Memphis was only impaired by the 
devastations of the Persians, and that when eclipsed by Alex- 
andria it continued to be the second city of Egypt, as recorded 
by Strabo, and that about as late as the time of our Saviour, 
The Arabian geographer, Abulfeda, notices, indeed, in the 
fourteenth century, the extensive remains of Menf, as still 
evincing the ancient importance of that renowned city. But 
these appear to have been employed in the erection of the 
more modern cities which have arisen in that part of Egypt 
where Memphis stood ; or to have been gradually covered 
by the encroaching sands of the desert, or the alluyions of 
the Nile, so that nothing now remains of all its glory but that 
described. 



Syene was the most southern city of the Thebais, border- 
ing on Nubia. By the prophet Ezekiel, the whole extent of 
Egypt, from north to south, is described as " from the tower 
of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia," Ezek. xxix. 10; 
XXX. 6. Migdol, which is incorrectly rendered " tower" in 
our version, and which should be preserved as the proper 
name of the town near the Red Sea, as noticed before, was 
in the north of Egypt, while Syene was its southern frontier. 
The cataracts of the Nile, which occur above this place, and 
the difficult navigation of the river, form a natural boundary 
line ; so that Syene, now called Assouan, has always been 
considered the frontier town of Egypt in this direction, 
Strictly speaking, the boundary is formed by the mighty ter- 



50 HISTORY OF THE EGYrTTANS. 

races of that peculiar reddish granite called syenite, which, 
shaped into peak's, stretch across the bed of the Nile, and from 
which the Egyptians obtained the stone so frequently em- 
ployed by them in their obelisks and colossal statues. 

The town of Syene retained its importance for many ages. 
This is certified by the ruins of works and buildings reared 
by the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, the Romans, and the Ara- 
bians, which are still seen on and around the site of the old 
town. The town Assouan, which succeeded it, so closely 
adjoins the old town on the north, that the northern wall of the 
latter forms the southern wall of the former. The scenery 
in this part is very striking. Madox, in his " Excursions in 
the Holy Land, Egypt, etc.," thus describes it: " The river 
is rocky here, and the navigation, by night at least, danger- 
ous. At the pass of Assouan ruin and devastation reign 
around. This pass, which nature has so well fortified, seems 
ill treated by man. Hardly any thing Avas to be seen but the 
vast remains of the old town of Sycne, with mud-built walls 
and hovels on every side. Rocks, forming islands, were in 
the middle of the stream, upon which shrubs were growing. 
The scene altogether vv^as wild and forlorn. In the distance 
appear high mountains, or masses of stone, with trees, corn, 
and grass of great height, extending to the water's edge." 
The removal of the town is said to have occurred a. d. 1403, 
in consequence of a plague, which destroyed 21,000 of its in- 
habitants, from which fact the reader may discern the ancient 
and also the comparatively modern importance of the town. 

ALEXANDPaA. 

This renowned city of Egypt owed its origin to Alexander 
the Great, who, during his visit to that country, (about b. c. 
332,) gave orders for its erection, between the sea and the 
Mareotic Lake. The architect was Dinocrates, a Macedo- 
nian. A large part of it was contained within the present 
walls, which are chiefly the work of the Arabs. One main 
street, about four miles in length, ran through the city from 
the eastern extremity to the Necropolis, or '■ city of the dead," 
at the western, and this was intersected by another main 
street, about one mile and a quarter in length, running nearly 
north, in a direction from the Mareotic Lake. This was to 
obtain the benefit of ventilatioa from the north winds. The 
main land and the isle of Pharos was connected by a dyke, 
called the Heptastadium, in which there was a passage for 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 51 

vessels, from one port to the other at each end. Over these 
passages there were bridges, probably of great height, since 
we are told that water was conveyed, along this dyke to the 
Island of Pharos. On the rocks occupied by the present 
Pharos, a magnificent light-house was constructed by Sostra- 
tus of Cnidus, in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the 
height of which, report says, was 400 feet. The point op- 
posite to the Pharos, was called Lochias, and as this point 
was prolonged towards the Pharos along some rocks, it re- 
ceived the name of Acro-Lochias, or the " Point of Lochias." 
Between this point and the obelisks, the palace of the Ptole- 
mies, the theatre, and various temples once stood. There 
were two ports; one bounded by the north-east part of the 
city, and the Heptastadium, called the great port, and the 
other called Eunostus, or " safe return." This latter also 
contained a small port, called Kibotos, or " the chest," because 
the entrance could be completely closed. No traces of this 
can now be discovered. A canal, uniting the lake with port 
Eunosius, terminated in or near port Kibotos, and was nearly 
the south-west limit of the city. There was also a canal from 
the lake to the town of Canopus, situated near the mouth of 
the western branch of the Nile, by means of which the city 
was supplied with river water, which was kept in cisterns. 
These, it would appear, were very numerous. A Roman 
writer says, " Nearly all Alexandria was undermined, and 
furnished with subterranean aqueducts, to convey the Nile 
water to private houses, where, after a short time, it became 
purified." Traces of such are now found on the site of an- 
cient Alexandria. 

The city of Alexandria was divided into five quarters, but 
neither the limits nor the names of each can be assigned. 
The court end, or Bruchion, comprised the part between the 
Lochias, the site of the obelisks, and the eastern or Rosetta 
gate. This part contained also the museum. The part 
called Rhacotis, which bordered on port Eunostus, contained 
the great temple of Serapis, which, after the establishment of 
Christianity, was a grievous offence to the Christians, and as 
such was destroyed by Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexan- 
dria, A. D. 390, by permission of the emperor Theodosius. 

The city of Alexandria was embellished by the Ptolemies 
with the spoils of the more ancient towns of Egypt, and it 
continued to receive accessions and improvements for several 
centuries. At one period of time, it was the rival of Rome 
in magnitude, and the greatest commercial city of the earth. 



52 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Like Tyre of old, it was the point of exchange for the eastern 
and western world. Diodorus, who visited the city just he- 
fore the downfall of the empire of the Ptolemies, says, that it 
contained, according to the registers, more than 300,000 free 
citizens. 

The remains of Old Alexandria are surrounded by a double 
wall, flanked with lofty towers. They are an almost shape- 
less mass of rubbish, in which are discerned fragments of 
broken columns, pieces of wall, cisterns, choked up with 
earth, pieces of pottery, glass, etc. There are five gateways 
or entrances into this enclosure. Of the two granite obelisks, 
called Cleopatra's Needles, one is still standing ; the other is 
lying prostrate on the ground. These obelisks formed the 
entrance to the palace of Cesar, as it is called, though it is 
most probable they were removed from some of the ancient 
cities of Egypt thither. > Near these obelisks is part of a 
tower, called, " The Tower of the Romans." About the cen- 
tre of the enclosure stands the mosque of St. Athanasius, on 
the cite of a Christian church erected by this patriarch dur- 
ing the fourth century. In this mosque the beautiful Sarco- 
phagus, of Egyptian Breccia, which is now in the British 
Museum, was discovered. The cisterns, mentioned for keep- 
ing Nile water, are still in a great measure preserved ; they 
consist of vaulted chambers, supported by columns which 
form arcades of two or three stories. The interior walls are 
covered with a thick red plaster which water cannot pene- 
trate. The level of these cisterns varies, but some of them 
are from fifteen to eighteen feet below the level of the sea. 
When the French invaded Egypt, the number iu use was 
207, and there were about 100 more known to exist. The 
only remarkable monument between the wall and the Lake 
is the column called " Pompey's Pillar." This column 
stands on a mound of earth about forty feet high, which con- 
tains remains of previous constructions. According to a 
Greek inscription on the plinth of the base, on the west side, 
it appears to have been erected (though probably not for the 
first time) in honour of the emperor Diocletian, by a prefect 
of Egypt, whose name cannot be further deciphered than that 
it begins with P O. The foundation of the pillar appears 
to have been frequently examined, probably in hope of find- 
ing treasures ; it is, perhaps, owing to this cause, that the 
column is inclined about seven inches to the south-west. In 
this direction, on the other side of the canal, are some cata- 
combs, cut in a small elevation of a sandy calcareous stone; 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 58 

iand farther south in the calcareous rock that faces the sea, 
are discerned numerous excavations, in the sides of which 
niches are formed. These formed part of the Necropolis of 
Old Alexandria. The most spacious of these excavations, 
vv^hich in common with the rest, communicates with the sea 
by a narrow passage, is about 3830 yards from the column. 
In the interior there is a great number of chambers and pas- 
sages, Avhich, judging from the style in which they are cut in 
the rock, are of Greek origin. This monument was doubt- 
less intended for a king. 

The history of this city is very remarkable. From b. c. 
323 to B. c. 30, when it fell into the hands of the Romans, it 
was the residence of the Greek kings of Egypt, the resort 
of commerce, and of many foreign nations, especially Jews, 
and it was also the centre of the scientific knowledge of that 
day. Of the five wards into which the city was divided, two 
were entirely occupied by Jews, and they had, besides, resi- 
dences dispersed in the other quarters. They enjoyed, as will 
be seen in the history of that period, full civil privileges, and 
had a prefect or governor of their own. Alexandria sus- 
tained much damage in the campaigns of Julius Cesar, b. c. 
48. From b. c. 30, to the Arab conquest under Omar, a. d. 
640, who, it is said, found forty thousand Jews paying tribute 
there, Alexandria was still a flourishing city under the Ro- 
man, and afterwards under the eastern empire. The Chris- 
tian religion was early adopted there, and it became one of 
the strong-holds of the true faith. Clemens, Origen, Atha- 
nasius, and others of equal note in the Christian church, 
flourished at Alexandria. In 969, the Fatemite caliphs 
seized on Egypt, and built New Cairo, from which time 
Alexandria declined still more, and sunk to the rank of a 
secondary city. The discovery of the route round the Cape 
of Good Hope, a. d. 1497, tended still further to diminish the 
importance of Alexandria ; so that at the present day, the 
city that bears its name no longer enjoys its ^yonted celebrity, 
though it appears to have recovered in some slight degree 
from its downfall by a revival of its commerce. The Roman 
power partly restored Alexandria as the channel of commerce 
with the east, but when their power was broken, it ceased. 

ARSINOE, 

This city stood at the head of the western branch of the 
Red Sea, and near the termination of the canal which unites 



54 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the Red Sea, and the Eastern branch of the Nile, It was 
founded by the second Ptolemy ; and Pliny states, that it de- 
rived its name from Arsinoe, his sister. Its name was 
changed afterwards to Cleopatris. It was chosen for a sea 
port; but though vessels anchored there, and rode secure 
from the violence of the sea, its exposed situation, and the 
dangers they encountered in working up the narrow extrem- 
ity of the gulf, rendered it- less eligible for the Indian trade 
than either Myos Hormos, or Berenice. Its chief advantages 
were the convenience of establishing a communication with 
the Nile by a canal, and the shortness of the journey across 
the desert in that part. The town of Arsinoe gave its name 
to a nome, or one of the ancient provincial divisions of Egypt, 
which corresponds to the modern Faioum. The old name 
of the town was the " City of Crocodiles," that animal being, 
as we are told by Strabo, highly reverenced there. 

aby'dos. 

Aby'dos was a city of Upper Egypt, the remains of which 
are found near two villages, Elkherbeh and Harabat, about 
six miles from the west bank of the Nile N. lat. 26° 12'. 
The chief building which still remains is nearly covered with 
sand, but the interior is in good preservation. This edifice is 
constructed of limestone and sandstone. It is said that arches 
are found in the interior, similar to those of brick which Bel- 
zoni describes at Thebes. The numerous apartments in this 
building, and the style of decoration, show that Abydos was 
once a place of importance. Some conjecture that it was a 
royal residence. When Strabo visited Egypt, about the com- 
mencement of the Christian era, Abydos was a mere village ; 
but he learned that the great building was called Memnoneion 
or palace of Memnon, and that tradition assigned to Abydos 
a rank in ancient times next to Thebes. There was a canal 
leading to the city from the river ; but besides this communi- 
cation with the main stream, Abydos had the advantage of 
standing on the large canal running northward, which is 
known by the name of the Rahr Youssuf 

On an interior wall of a building at Abydos, not belonging 
to the great edifice, a kind of tablet, or genealogy of the early 
kings of Egypt, which is generally called the table of Aby- 
dos, was discovered. This tablet consists of three compart- 
ments lying horizontally one above another ; and each com- 
partment has been divided into twenty-six rectansfles, so that 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. .55 

the whole once contained seventy-eight rectangles. Each of 
these rectangles contains an elliptical ring, or cartouche, such 
as may be seen on the Egyptian monuments in the British 
Museum; and each cartouche contains various figures, which 
are generally supposed to indicate the names or titles of sove- 
reigns. The lowest of the three compartments contains, in 
the nineteen rectangles which are complete, the title and name 
of Rameses the Great; the same prsenomen, or title, and 
name, having each, probably, been repeated thirteen times in 
the whole twenty-six rectangles, of which seven are erased. 
Deducting these twenty-six, there remain in the other two 
compartments fifty-two rectangles. The fifty-first and fifty- 
second contain the title and name of a Rameses, who may be 
a predecessor of Rameses the Great. The cartouches prece- 
ding these are thought to be the titles of kings : this is very 
probable, for the forty-seventh is the same as that on the great 
colossal statue at Thebes, and on the entire colossal statue in 
the British Museum, which is Amenophis ii. in Manetho's ca- 
talogue. 

BERENICE. 

Berenice was a port on the west side of the Red Sea, at 
the bottom of a bay, which is described by Strabo under the 
name of Acathartus. Belzoni describes the place which he 
takes to be the site of Berenice as being a little south of the 
parallel of 24°, in which D' Anville concurs. Ptolemy gives 
the latitude of Berenice at 23° 40', which is also the latitude 
of Syene. The town, according to Belzoni, measured 1,600 
feet from north to south, and 2,000 from east to west. A small 
temple of Serapis, built of soft calcareous and sand stone, in 
the Egyptian style of architecture, is 102 feet long, and 43 
wide. A part of the wall which was uncovered by digging 
was sculptured with well executed figures in basso-relievo, in 
the Egyptian style ; on the wall hieroglyphics were also dis- 
covered. 

The town of Berenice was built or restored by Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, who called it after the name of his mother, the 
wife of Lagus, or Soter. The town was very extensive, and 
though the harbour was neither deep nor spacious, its position 
in a receding gulf tended greatly to the safety of the vessels 
lying within it, or anchored in the bay. A road led thence 
direct to Coptos, furnished with the usual stations, or hydreu- 
mas ; and another, which also went to the emerald mines, 



56 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

joined, or rather crossed it, from ApoUinopolis Magna. Wlien 
Strabo visited Egypt, the Myos Hormos seems to have super- 
seded Berenice ; but the latter, in the later age of Pliny, was 
again preferred to its rival. From both these ports the goods 
were taken on camels, by an almost level road across the 
desert to Coptos, and thence distributed over different parts 
of Egypt. In the time of the Ptolemies and Cesars, those 
Suited for exportation to Europe went down the river to the 
city of Alexandria, where they were sold to merchants who 
resorted to that city at a stated season 

BTYOS HORMOS. 

The Myos Hormos, called also Aphrodite, and, according 
to Agatharchides, the Port of Venus, stood in latitude 27"^ 
22', upon a flat coast, backed by low mountains, distant from 
it about three miles, where a well called the Fons Tadnos 
supplied the town and ships with water. The port was more 
capacious than those of Berenice and Philoteras ; and 
though exposed to the winds, it was secure against the force 
of a tempestuous sea. Several roads united at the gates of 
the town, from Berenice and Philoteras on the south, Arsinoe 
on the north, and from Coptos on the west ; and stations sup- 
plied those who passed to and from the Nile with water and 
other necessaries. 

"Many other ports," says Mr. Wilkinson, "the Portus 
Multi of Pliny, occur along the coast, particularly between 
Berenice and Kossayr ;* but though they all have landmarks 
to guide boats in approaching their rocky entrances, none of 
them have any remains of a tower, or the vestiges of habita- 
tions." They teach the beholder the important lesson, that 
nothing on earth is enduring ; and that 

" He builds too low, who builds below the skies." — Ycung. 
TENTYRA. 

The ruins of Tentyra are supposed to be those seen at 
Amara, about a mile from the river Erment. It stood in the 
midst of a large plain, and seems to have been between three 
and four miles in compass. The ruins of two ancient build- 
ings are still to be seen there. The inhabitants of this city 

* Myos Hormos ceded its place to this town, which was afterwards 
called Philoteras, and was resorted to ailer the Arab conquest. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 57 

were famous for their enmity to the crocodile, which they en- 
deavoured to destroy by all the means in their power. They 
even waged war with the worshippers of that animal, es- 
pecially with the people of Ombos. To this circumstance 
Juvenal alludes in one of his satires. He says, 

" Ombus and Tentyr, neighbouring towns, of late 
Broke into outrage of deep fester'd hate. 
A grudge in both, time out of mind, begun 
And mutually bequeathed from sire to son : 
Rehgious spite and pious spleen bred first 
This quarrel, which so long the bigots nursed. 
Each called the other's god a senseless stock, 
His own, divine ; though from the self-same block 
One carver framed them, differing but in shape ; 
A serpent this resembling, that an ape." — Tale's Juvenal. 

At Rome, the Tentyrites were employed to take the croco- 
diles with nets out of the ponds, where they were kept as a 
curiosity, and to show them to the people, which they did 
without receiving the least harm. Some have supposed tha* 
this people possessed a natural ascendency over the croco 
dile ; but Seneca more justly ascribes their power over it ts 
their temerity in facing and attacking this dangerous crea> 
ture. Their power over the ci-ocodile is attested by one of 
the marbles of the Townley Collection in the British Mu 
seum, which is usually explained to represent an Egyptian 
tumbler exercising his feats on the back of a tame crocodile. 

APOLLINOPOLIS. 

This city is thought to have been situated where the town 
of Edfou (on the left bank of the Nile, in 25° N. lat.) now 
stands. There are still the ruins of a magnificent temple 
here, which may be compared v>rith that at Denderah for 
preservation, and which is generally attributed to the age of 
the Ptolemies. The inhabitants of Apollinopolis, it is said, 
rivalled the Tentyrites in their enmity to, and abhorrence of 
the crocodile. 



LATOPOLIS. 

This city was called Latopolis from the fish latus, which 
was worshipped in that city. About three miles to the n.n.w. 
of the present town of Esne are to be seen the ruins of an 
ancient temple, which Pococlwe supposes to have been the 



58 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

temple of Pallas, and the fish latus at Latopolis, where they 
were both worshipped. Within this temple, says this tra- 
veller, are three stories of hieroglyphics of men, about three 
feet high, and at one end the lowest figures are as large as 
life ; one of them is adorned with the head of the ibis. The 
ceiling is curiously adorned with all sorts of animals, and 
painted in beautiful colors. 

OMBOS. 

This city, according to ancient geographers, stood to the 
south of Thebes. It is identified with Comombo, or '• The 
Hill of Ombo," where the ruins of an ancient temple are still 
to be seen. The inhabitants of Ombos, as before hinted, 
were famous for the worship of the crocodile, ^lian says, 
they fed them in their ponds, where they became so tame as 
to obey them when called. 

PHYL.S:, 

This city stood about twelve miles south of Syene, in an 
island of the same name, not above' a quarter of a mile long, 
and half a quarter broad. The island of Phylae was deemed 
sacred from an opinion, according to Diodorus, that Osiris 
was buried there ; and the ruins of a magnificent temple are 
still found on the island. It appears from the nolitia, that the 
Romans had a garrison at Phylas, Avhich was the most 
southern city of all Egypt. Between this place and Syene is 
the lesser cataract, and the greater at a small distance from 
Pselca, a town in Ethiopia. Cicero says, that the people 
Avho lived near the lesser cataract were all deaf from the 
noise which the river made in falling from the high moun- 
tains, But this is an error ; for the fall is in no part above 
seven or eight feet, and, therefore, could have little effect on 
the organs of hearing. 

CANOPUS. 

This city stood on the coast near the outlet of the western 
or Canopic branch of the Nile. It was forty miles from 
Alexandria by land, with which it was connected by a canal. 
In the time of Strabo, it contained a great temple of Serapis. 
It is said to have been built by the Spartans, on their return 
from the Trojan war, and to have taken its name from 
Canopus, the pilot of Menelaiis, who died, and was buried in 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 59 

this place. The city was noted for the lewd and dissolute 
diversions which the Alexandrians indulged themselves in 
here, whence Seneca writes in one of his epistles thus : " No 
one, thinking of a retreat, would choose Canopus, though a 
man may be good and honest even at Canopus." 

These are all the cities of which we can give any detailed 
information. Others are mentioned by ancient writers, but 
for the most part they are known only by name. And of 
those we have described, the reader will have observed that 
little remains to testify their pre-existence. They have 
mouldered into dust, and the plough has gone over their site, 
or other cities or towns and villages have been erected on 
their ruins ; thus bearing mournful evidence to the truth of 
the M'^ords of the Grecian sage, that 

" Nothing is lasting on the world's great stage." 

All sublunary enjoyments imitate the changeableness, as 
well as feel the influence of the planets they are under. 
Time, like a river, carries them all away with a rapid course. 
They swim above the stream for a little while, but they are 
quickly swallowed up by the waves, and seen no more. The 
very cities men build for their habitations, and the monuments 
they raise to perpetuate their names, consume and moulder 
away, and proclaim their own mortality, as well as testify that 
of others. But there are enjoyments indestructible in their 
nature, and endless in their duration ! There is a city whose 
foundations can never be shaken, and which God hath pre- 
pared for them that love him I Like the stars and orbs 
above, which shine with undiminished lustre, and move with 
the same unwearied motion, with which they did from the 
first date of their creation, these enjoyments are ever full, 
fresh, and entire ; and they will abide when sun, and moon, 
and nature itfeelf, shall be employed by Providence no more. 
The righteous shall appear in the eternal city, when the 
earth and all that is therein shall have been consumed, and 
enjoy one perpetual and everlasting day — a day commensu- 
rate to the unlimited eternity of God himself 

"There is a place beyond that flaming hill, 

Prom whence their stars their thin appearance shed ; 

A place beyond all place, where never ill 

Nor impure thought was ever harboured : 

But saintly heroes are for ever said 

To keep an everlasting sabbath's rest ; 

Still wishing that of which they're still possessed, 
Enjoying but one joy — but one of all joys best." — Giks Fktcker. 



CHAPTER 111. 



HISTORY OF THE POLITY OP EGYPT. 



The Egyptians attained a high degree of refinement and 
luxury at a time when the whole western world was involved 
in barbarism, when the history of Europe, including Greece, 
was not yet unfolded, and ages before Carthage, Athens, and 
Rome were founded. They were indeed, the first people who 
rightly understood the rules of government, who perceived 
that the just design of politics is, to make life easy and a peo- 
ple happy. This high state of civilization was attained under 
t system of institutions and policy bearing some resemblance 
to tliose of the Hindoos. It was a monarchy based upon a 
potent hierarchy. To enable the reader to understand this, 
the different orders of which the state was composed shall be 
described. 

THE KINGLY POAVER. 

The kings of Egypt were anciently indiscriminately called 
iPharaoh. This was not a proper name : Josephus says, the 
word signified king in the Egyptian language ; and it 
appears to have been used as a prefi.x to the proper name, in 
the same manner that Ptolemy was, after the subjugation of 
Egypt by the Greeks. When used independently of the 
proper name, it distinguished the king of Egypt from other 
monarchs. 

The kingdom of Egypt was hereditary, but according to 
Diodorus, the Egyptian princes (unlike other monarchies, in 
which the prince acknowledges no other rule of his actions 
than his own arbitrary will and pleasure) were under greater 
restraint from the law than their subjects. These laws were 
contained in the sacred books, and were digested by one of 
their earliest monarchs, so that every thing was settled by, 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS 61 

atid they lived according to ancient custom ; treading the 
same path as their ancestors. 

The king appears to have been the chief both of religion 
and state. He held the right of regulating the sacrifices, and 
of offering them to the gods upon grand occasions. The 
title arid office of " President of the Assemblies" belonged 
exclusively to him, and he superintended the feasts and festi- 
vals celebrated in honour of their false gods. He could pro- 
claim peace and vrar ; he commanded the armies, and re- 
warded those who deserved his approbation ; and every 
privilege seems to have been granted him which did not 
interfere with the welfare of his subjects. 

The sovereign power in Egypt was hereditary. In the 
event of an heir failing, however, the claims for 'succession 
were determined by nearness of relationship. Clueens Avere 
not forbidden to undertake the management of affairs, and on 
the demise of their husbands, they were allowed to assume 
the office of regent. Such, at least, are mentioned by histo- 
rians, and introduced into the annals of Manetho ; but their 
names do not appear in the lists of sovereigns sculptured in 
the temples of Thebes and Abydos. In some instances, the 
kingdom was usurped by a powerful chief, as in the case of 
Amasis, or by some Ethiopian prince, who, either claiming a 
right to the crown, or taking advantage of internal disturb- 
ances, obtained possession of it by force of arms. Synesius 
intimates, that the Egyptian monarchy was elective ; but 
there is no instance on record that would lead to such a con- 
clusion, except in the case of the twelve kings who reigned 
in union, and that is an exception to the general practice. 
Diodorus says, indeed, that, in ancient times, kings, instead 
of succeeding by right of inheritance, were selected for their 
merits ; but whether this really was the case at the commence- 
ment of the Egyptian monarchy, it is difficult to determine. 
The same author, in fact, states in another place, that the first 
kings were succeeded by their offspring, and we have hiero- 
glyphical evidence that such was the case during the eigh- 
teenth and succeeding dynasties. This is further confirmed 
by Herodotus, and the formula in the Rosetta stone : " The 
kingdom being established unto him, and unto his children 
for ever. 

But although the monarchy of Egypt was hereditary, the 
kings did not presume in consequence of this right, to infringe 
the rules enacted for their public and private conduct. The 
laws of Egypt, which formed part of the sacred books, were 

VOL. I, 6 



62 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

acknowledged to be of divine orig^in, and were looked upon 
with superstitious reverence. To have disobeyed them, 
would have been considered rebellion against the deity, and 
would have called forth vengeance upon the head of the offen- 
der, even should that offender have been the monarch on his 
throne. These laws were framed with the strictest regard to 
the welfare of the community as the ancient history of the 
Egyptians abundantly proves. Diodorus, observes on this 
subject : " This unparalleled country could never have con- 
tinued throughout ages in such a flourishing condition if it 
had not enjoyed the best laws and customs, and if the people 
had not been guided by the most salutary regulations." 

When a sovereign, having been educated in the military 
class, was ignorant of the mysteries of his religion, due care 
was taken, on his accession to the throne, to have him 
informed therein, and to enrol him in the college of the priests. 
He was instructed in all that related to the gods, the temple, 
the laws of the country, and the duties of a monarch. In 
order to preserve his dignity, and his morality, it was care- 
fully provided that neither slave nor hired servant should hold 
any office about his person, but that the chiidreaof the priestly 
order, who were remarkable for a refined education, should 
alone be permitted to attend him. This measure was dictated 
by the persuasion that no monarch gives way to the impulse 
of evil passions, unless he finds those about him ready to 
serve as instruments to his caprices, and abettors of his 
excesses. 

This, it may be mentioned, agrees very well with the 
sculptures, which represent priests as pages and [cin bearers, 
Diodorus says, that the king's sons also held such offices. 
Reynier indeed, questions whether slavery existed at all in 
Egypt previous to the period when its ancient institutions 
became in a great degree changed. His doubts arise from 
the difficulty of reconciling the existence of slaves with the 
organization of the Egyptians under their theocracy. But 
that they did possess slaves at the earliest period, we learn 
from Scripture. The king of Egypt gave male and female 
slaves to Abraham, Gen. xii. 16 ; and Joseph, the beloved son 
of good old Israel, was snld as a slave "unto Potiphar, an 
officer of Pharoah's, and captain of the guard," Gen. xxxvii. 
36. This latter fact is met by the author named, by an 
observation, that the domination of the shepherd kings must 
have operated in modifying the peculiar usages of the Egyp- 
tians. Among the Efrvptian laws, however, as cited by Dio- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 63 

dorus, there is one that inflicts the punishment of death on a 
person who kills his slave, and another that denounces a 
severe punishment against one who violates a free woman, 
which proves there were some not free. The former of these 
laws is illustrated by the conduct which Potiphar pursued 
towards his slave Joseph. On the report of his mistress, 
Potiphar believed his slave had dealt most perfidiously and 
ungratefully towards him, acting in a way calculated to pro- 
voke indignation and summary punishment; but he commit- 
ted no violence upon him ; he respected the laws of his coun- 
try, and sent him to the royal prison, apparently intending 
that, after trial and conviction, he should receive the punish' 
ment adjudged by the laws to his offence. See Gen. xxxix. 
13—20. 

The first slaves were, doubtless, prisoners taken in war, 
who became the property of the captors. Afterwards, these 
prisoners were sold to others who might require servants ; 
and, eventually, any persons offered for sale were bought 
solely as a trading speculation, as we see in the case of Joseph, 
and as they are to this day in that country. The captives 
brought to Egypt were employed in the service of the mon- 
arch, in building temples, cutting canals, raising dykes and 
embankments, and other public works, as in the days of 
Sesostris ; and some, who were purchased by the grandees, 
were employed in the same capacity as the Memlooks of the 
present. Women slaves were also engaged in the service of 
families, like the Greeks and Circassians in Modern Egypt, 
and other parts of the Turkish empire ; and, from finding 
them represented in the sculptures of Thebes, accompanying 
men of their own nation, who bear tribute to the Egyptian 
monarch, we may conclude that a certain number were 
annually sent to Egypt from the conquered provinces of the 
north and east, as well as from Ethiopia. It is evident that 
both white and black slaves were employed as servants. 
They attended on the guests when invited to the house of 
their master ; and, from their being in the families of priests as 
well as of the military chiefs, we may infer that they were 
purchased with money, and that the right of possessing slaves 
was not confined to those who had taken them in war. The 
traffic in slaves was tolerated ; and it is reasonable to suppose 
that many persons were engaged, as at present, in bringing 
them to Egypt for public sale, independent of those who were 
sent as part of the tribute, and who were probably at first the 
property of the monarch. 



64 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

The kings of Egypt freely permitted not only the quality 
and proportion of what they ate and drank to be prescribed 
them, but that all their hours, and almost every action, should 
be under the regulation of the laws. In the morning at day- 
break, when the head is clearest, and the thoughts un per- 
plexed, they read the several letters they had received, thereby 
forming a distinct idea of the affairs which would fall under 
their consideration during the day. As soon as they were 
dressed they went to the daily sacrifice performed in the tem- 
ple ; where, surrounded by their whole court, and the victims 
placed before the altar, they assisted at the prayer pronounced 
aloud by the high priest, in which he asked of the gods health 
and all other blessings for the king, because he governed his 
people with clemency and justice, and made the laws of his 
kingdom the rule and standard of his actions. The high 
priest then entered into a long detail of his royal virtues, 
observing, that a king was religious to the gods, affable to 
men, moderate, just, magnanimous, sincere, an enemy to 
falsehood, liberal, master of his passions, punishing crimes 
with the utmost lenity, but boundless in rewarding merit. 
He next mentioned the faults of which kings might be guilty, 
but supposed, at the same time, that they never committed 
any, except by surprise or ignorance ; and they loaded such 
of their ministers, as gave them ill counsel, and suppressed or 
disguised the truth, with imprecations. After the prayers and 
sacrifices were ended, the counsels and actions of great men 
were read to the king out of the sacred books, in order that 
the king might govern his dominions according to their 
maxims, and maintain the laws which had made his prede- 
cessors and their subjects happy. 

The paramount function of kings is the administration of 
justice to their subjects. Accordingly, the kings of Egypt 
diligently cultivated this duty, convinced that on this depended 
both the comfort of individuals and the happiness of the state. 
To assist them in the administration of justice they selected 
thirty judges out of the principal cities, as will be seen in a 
future page. 

Great respect was paid in Egypt to the monarch. They 
were honoured, indeed, whilst living, as so many visible 
representations of the Deity ; and, after their death, lamented 
for as the fathers of their country. These sentiments «f 
respect and tenderness proceeded from a strong persuasion 
that the Divinity himself had placed them upon the throne, as 
he distinguished them so greatly from all other human 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 65 

beings ; and that kings bore the most noble characteristics of 
the Supreme Being, as the power and will of doing good to 
others were united in their persons. It was the blind adora- 
tion they paid to their monarchs, which led them to believe 
that after death their spirits passed into, and became the ani- 
mating principle of some heavenly body, and consequently 
they became the object of their worship. Thus Thoth (2nd) 
or Hermes Trismegistus, the thirty-fifth king of Thebes, is 
said to have been deified, because he was the reviver and 
second founder of the theology, laws, and social institutions 
of the Egyptians, all of which he brought into that system 
which has been regarded with wonder in every subsequent 
age. 

On the death of every Egyptian king, a general mourning 
was instituted throughout all Egypt for seventy-two days; 
hymns commemorating his virtues were sung ; the temples 
were closed ; sacrifices were no longer offered ; and no feasts 
or festivals were celebrated during that period. The people 
tore their garments, and covering their heads with dust and 
mud, formed a procession of two or three hundred persons of 
both sexes, who met publicly twice a day, to sing the funeral 
dirge. A general fast was also observed, and they neither 
allowed themselves to taste meat or wheat bread, and abstained 
from wine and every luxury. In the mean time, the funeral 
was prepared, and on the last day the body was placed in state 
within the vestibule of the tomb, and an account was given of 
the life and conduct of the deceased. It was permitted to any 
present to offer himself as an accuser, and the voice of a peo- 
ple might prevent a sovereign from receiving funeral honours. 
This was an ordeal, the dread of which would, doubtless, 
tend to stimulate the Egyptian monarchs to the practice of 
their duty ; for there is planted in the human breast, in all 
ages, and in all countries of the world, an ardent desire that 
a last tribute of respect should be paid to frail humanity. 

CASTES OF THE PEOPLE. 

The division of Egyptian society into separate classes, or 
castes has been noticed by many ancient writers. Hero- 
dotus says, they were divided into seven tribes, — priests, 
soldiers, herdsmen, swineherds, shopkeepers, interpreters, 
and boatmen. Diodorus states, that like the Athenians 
(who, being an Egyptian colony, derived this institution 
from the parent country,) they were distributed into three 

6* 



66 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

classes, the priests, husbandmen, from whom the soldiers were 
levied, and the artizans, who were employed in handicraft, 
and other similar occupations, and in common offices, among 
the people. This author, however, ia another page, extends 
the number of castes to five, reckoning the pastors, husband- 
men, and artificers, independently of the soldiers and priests. 
Strabo limits them to three, the priests, soldiers, and husband- 
men ; and Plato divides them into six bodies, — the priests, 
soldiers, artificers, huntsmen,* husbandmen, and shepherds ; 
each peculiar art, or occupation, he observes, being confined 
to a certain subdivision of the caste, and every one engaged 
in his own branch, without interfering with the occupation of 
another, as in India and China, where the same trade or 
employment is followed in succession by father and son. 

From these statements it will be perceived, that the exact 
number of classes into which the Egyptians were divided is 
uncertain : the most probable inference we can draw from 
them is, that there were five distinct castes in Egypt, with 
certain subdivisions. 

The Priestly Power. 

The priesthood formed the second, and the ruling power in 
Egypt. The authority and paramount influence, indeed, of 
the priestly order were such as to render the Egyptian 
government rather ecclesiastical than monarchical. We 
have seen that when a king was elected, who was not 
previously of the sacerdotal caste, he was adopted into that 
caste, and instructed in its mysteries and science. This may 
explain the union of Joseph with Asenath, the daughter of the 
" priest of On." The desire of the priesthood to concentrate 
all power into their own body, may have induced them to 
wish that Joseph should be connected with them ; or, the king 
may have desired it to establish him in his position, by 
securing him the support and countenance of the priestly 
order in his undertakings, without which all his plans must 
have proved abortive, though dictated by ever so much wis- 
dom. 

The priests of Egypt possessed great privileges and reve- 

* This class appears to have comprehended those who sought the young 
of gazelles, and other wild animals of the desert, and those who, as fow- 
lers, sought for birds in a wild state, which they caught in large clap-nets. 
It is supposed that, like a similar class of persons in India, as described 
by Mcgasthcncs, they led a wanderuig life, dwelling in tents. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 67 

nues. See Gen. xlvii. 22, 26. The prince usually honoured 
them with a large share of his confidence, because they were 
better educated than any other caste, and were most strongly 
attached to the person of the king, and the good of the public. 
In the priesthood, not only must the son of a priest be a priest, 
but he must be a priest to the particular deity to whom his 
father had ministered. The priests were dispersed in parties 
in the several districts, where they constituted the governing- 
body : but the large cities which had at different times been 
the capitals of Egypt, and where their great temples were 
found, formed their principal seats. Every priest was 
attached to some temple or other, and every temple had 
its chief priest whose office was hereditary. In the principal 
cities, the high priests were, to a certain extent, hereditary 
princes, who ranked next the kings, and enjoyed nearly equal 
advantages. Such a person was Potipherah, " priest of On." 
Heeren concludes, that the organization of the inferior priest- 
hood was different in different cities, according to the extent and 
wants of the locality. On the position they held in the state, this 
author says, that they did not constitute the ruling race merely 
because from them were chosen the servants of the state, but 
much rather because they monopolized every branch of scien- 
tific knowledge, which was entirely formed by the locality, 
and had immediate reference to the wants of the people. 
Their sole, or even their most usual employment, was not the 
service of the gods ; they were judges, physicians, soothsayers, 
architects ; in short, every thing in which any species of 
scientific knowledge was concerned. Annexed to each tem- 
ple and settlement of priests were extensive estates, which 
were farmed out at moderate rents. The produce of these 
lands supplied a common fund, which furnished provisions 
for the priests and their families, thereby rendering it unne- 
cessary, as Herodotus observes, for them to contribute any 
thing from their own private resources towards their support ; 
from which we discover, that they had private property and 
estates exclusive of their common lands. 

The priests had possession of the sacred books, which con- 
tained the principles of government, as well as the mysteries 
of divine worship, and which, like their temples, were not 
Dpen to the vulgar. These were both commonly involved in 
symbols and enigmas, which made truth more venerable, and 
excited more strongly the curiosity of the multitude. The 
figure of Harpocrates, in the Egyptian sanctuaries, with his 
finger upon his mouth, seemed to intimate that mysteries were 



68 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

there enclosed. A% much may be said of the sphinxes placed 
at the entrance of every temple ; and it is well known, that 
the pyramids, obelisks, pillars, statues, etc., were usually 
adorned with hieroglyphics, or symbolical writings, under 
which was couched a hidden and parabolical meaning. It is 
stated by Porphyry and Clemens Alexandrinus, that the 
writing of the Egyptian priests was of four kinds. The first, 
HIEROGLYPHIC and this twofold ; the more rude called curiolo- 
gic, and the more artificial called tropical : the second sym- 
bolic, and this likewise was twofold ; the simple and the mys- 
terious, that tropical, this allegorical. These two kinds of 
writing were not composed of the letters of an alphabet, but 
of characters which stood for things not words. Thus, to 
signify the sun, they sometimes painted a hawk ; this was 
tropical : sometimes a scarabseus with a round ball in its 
claws ; this was enigmatical. The third form of writing was 
called EPiSTOLic, from its being first applied to civil matters ; 
and the fourth, hierogrammatic, from its being used only in 
religious matters. These last two kinds of writing expressed 
words, and were formed by the letters of an alphabet: thus, 
Y. K., in the Egyptian tongue, signifying a serpent ; and a 
serpent, in their hieroglyphics, denoting a king; Y. K., as 
stated by Manetho, signified the same in the sacred dialect. 

One of the principles in the religious policy of Egypt, was, 
that the government of the world had, by the Supreme Ruler 
of the universe, been committed to subordinate local, tutelary 
deities, amongst whom the several regions of the earth were 
divided ; that these were the proper objects of all public and 
popular religion ; and that the knowledge of the one true 
God, the Creator of all things, was highly dangerous to be 
communicated to the people, but Avas to be secreted, and shut 
up in their mysteries, and in them to be revealed only oc- 
casionally, and to a few ; and those few the wise, the learned, 
and the mighty among mankind. 

Another fundamental maxim in the religious policy of 
Egypt was, to propagate, by every means, the doctrine of a 
future state of rewards and punishments, as the necessary 
support of all religion and government. Thus their tenets 
were dictated by worldly wisdom, for the support only of the 
state. How unlike such are the pure doctrines of the gos- 
pel ! While they form a broad security for good order in a 
state, they teach mankind the knowledge of the one true God, 
and the way of salvation through a crucified Redeemer. 

Diodorus observes, on the education of the Egyptians : — 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 69 

" The children of the priests are taught !wo diiFerent kinds 
of writing, what is called the sacred, and the more general ; 
and they pay great attention to geometry and arithmetic : for 
the river, changing the appearance of the country very ma- 
terially every year, is the cause of many and various discus- 
sions among neighbouring proprietors about the extent of 
their property ; and it would be difiicult for any person to 
decide upon their claims without geometrical reasoning, 
founded on actual observation.* 

" Of arithmetic they have also frequent need, both in their 
domestic economy, and in the application of geometrical 
theorems, besides its utility in the cultivation of astronomical 
studies ; for the orders and motions of the stars are observed 
at least as industriously by the Egyptians as any people 
whatever, and they keep records of the motions of each for 
an incredible number of years, the study of this science hav- 
ing been, from the remotest times, an object of national am- 
bition with them. They have also most punctually observed 
the motions, periods, and stations of the planets, as well as 
the powers which they possess with respect to the nativities 
of animals, and what good or evil influences they exert ; and 
they frequently foretell what is to happen to a man through- 
out his life, and not uncommonly predict the failure of crops, 
or an abundance, and the occurrences of epidemic diseases 
among men and beasts ; foreseeing also earthquakes and 
floods, the appearance of comets, and a variety of other 
things, which appear impossible to the multitude.! It is said 
that the Chaldeans in Babylon are derived from an Egyptian 

* According to some authors, Sesostris was the first who divided Egypt 
by a measure amongst his subjects, and thus gave a beginning to the sci- 
ence of geometry. Sir Isaac Newton ascribes the origin of this science 
to Moeris, the fifth from Sesostris, confounding Sesostris with Osiris. 
But it is evident fi-om Scripture, that an exact division of private landed 
property existed in Egypt before the days of Joseph, whose wise admin- 
istration commenced ao-es anterior to the period assicrned by Newton. 
See Gen. xlvu. 20—26. 

t The false science of astrology was created by the priests of Egypt, 
for the sake of establishing and preserving their power. Induced by the 
illusion of his senses to regard himself as the centre of the universe, man 
was easily persuaded that his destiny was influenced by the heavenly 
bodies, and that it was possible to' foretell it by observing their aspect at 
his birth. This illusive notion kept its ground till the end of the seven- 
teenth century, when knowledge genersdly diffused the true system of the 
world over Europe, and destroyed the imposing fabric of astrology, dis- 
persing its reveries and follies, as the beams of the sun disperse the 
morning mists. 



70 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

colony, and have acquired their reputation for astrology by 
means of the information obtained from the priests in Egypt. 

" But the generality of the common people learn only 
from their parents or relations that which is required for the 
exercise of their pecuHar professions, as we have already 
shown ; a few only being taught any thing of literature, and 
those principally the better classes of artificers." 

In their minute observations respecting events of conse- 
quence, Herodotus observes, that the Egyptians excelled all 
other people ; and when any thing occurs, they put it doAvn 
, in writing, and pay particular attention to the circumstances 
which follow it ; and if, in process of time, any similar oc- 
currence takes place, they conclude it will be attended with 
the same results. 

But, if the priests were anxious to establish a character for 
learning and piety, they were equally solicitous to excel in 
propriety of conduct, and to exhibit a proper example of hu- 
mility and self-denial. In their mode of living, they were 
remarkable for simplicity and abstinence ; committing no ex- 
cesses either in eating or drinking. Their food was plain, 
and they ate a stated quantity ; their wine, also, was used 
Avith the strictest regard to moderation. So fearful were they, 
indeed, lest the body should not '■'■ sit light upon the soul," 
and excess should increase " the corporeal man," that they 
paid a scrupulous attention to the most trifling particu- 
lars of diet. Similar precautions were extended to the dei- 
fied animals ; Plutarch says that Apis was not allowed to 
drink the Avater of the Nile, on account of its fattening pro- 
perties. 

Their scruples were not confined to the quantity, but they 
extended to the quality of their food ; certain viands were 
alone allowed to be set before them. Above all meats, that 
of swine was most obnoxious ; and fish, both of the sea and 
the river Nile, was denied to them, though so generally 
eaten by the Egyptians. On the 9tli of the month Thoth, 
when a religious ceremony obliged the inhabitants at large 
to eat a fried fish before the door of their houses, the priests 
were exempted from the custom, and allowed to substitute the 
ceremony of burning theirs at the same time. In general 
they abstained from most sorts of pulse, and from mutton. 
In their more solemn purifications, salt was excluded from 
their meals. Some vegetables, however, were considered 
lawful food, and were prefeired by them for their wholesome 
nature. The leguminous productions and fruits of Egj'pt 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 71 

are, indeed, frequently introduced into their sculptures ; and 
Pliny and other authors speak of such as being abundant, 
and possessing the most excellent qualities. 

The priests of Egypt were equally severe in their ablu- 
tions as'in their diet, maintaining the strictest observance of 
numerous religious customs connected with the act. They 
bathed tAvice a day, and twice during the night. Some who 
pretended to a more rigid observance of religious duties, 
washed themselves with water which had been tasted by the 
ibis, supposing that this was an evidence of its purity. They 
also shaved the head and the whole body every third day, 
sparing no pains to promote cleanliness, without indulging 
in the luxuries of a bath. A grand ceremony of purifica- 
tion took place preparatory to their fasts, many of which 
lasted from seven to forty-two days, and sometimes even a 
longer period. During this period, they practised rigid ab- 
stinence as to food, and were careful to avoid the indulgence 
of the passions. 

The self-denial of the priests extended even to their dress, 
that being commonly of the most simple kind. Their robes 
of ceremony, however, were grand and imposing, and each 
grade was distinguished by its peculiar costume. 

It is stated by Herodotus, that women v/ere not eligible to 
vhe priesthood, either of a male or female deity, and that men 
alone were admitted to this post. This remark, however, evi- 
dently applies to the office of pontiff, or at least to some of 
the higher sacerdotal orders, from his referring in another 
place to women devoted to the service of Amun, as well as 
from the testimony of other authorities. There appear, in- 
deed, to have been priestesses of the gods, and of the kings 
and queens, each of whom bore a title indicating her pecu- 
liar office. Of the former, the Pellices, or Pailacides, of 
Amun, are the most remarkable, as the importance of their 
post abundantly proves. They are the same whom Herodo- 
tus mentions as consecrated to the Theban Jove, whose sepul- 
chres are still seen at Thebes, in a valley 3,000 feet behind 
the ruins of Medeenet Haboo. There was another class of 
priestesses of the same rank, apparently a subdivision of the 
same, who fulfilled certain duties entrusted only to the Avives 
and daughters of priests, and not unusually to members of 
the same family as the Pailacides. These had also the privi- 
lege of holding the sacred sistra in religious ceremonies, be- 
fore the altar, and were attached to the service of the same 
deity. 



72 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

In the Rosetta stone, direct mention is made of the priest- 
esses of the queens. It speaks of " Areia, the daughter of 
Diogenes, being priestess of Arsinoe, the daughter of Phila- 
delphus : and Eirene, the daughter of Ptolemy, priestess of 
Arsinoe, the daughter of Philopator : and Pyrrha, the daugh- 
ter of Philinus, being canefora, or 'basket-bearer' of Be- 
renice, the daughter of Euergetes." Diodorus also asserts, 
that Athyrtis, the daughter of Sesostris, was priestess to her 
father, and that she foretold to him the future success of his 
arms, by which he was stimulated to prosecute his designs 
of conquest. 

The Military Power. 

The caste which ranked next to the sacerdotal caste in 
Egypt, was the military. The first mention of an organized 
military force in Egypt occurs, Exod. xiv. xv., where we 
find that Pharaoh assembled very quickly a large army, both 
of cavalry and infantry, to pursue the Hebrews ; and that 
this army perished in " the mighty waters" of the Red Sea. 
The alacrity with which these were collected together, shows 
that a large force was constantly maintained, ready to march 
on any emergency. This warhke force consisted, indeed, 
of a numerous militia, which formed a caste by itself, whose 
occupation was hereditary, and which enjoyed great authority 
and high privileges. Tnis militia was divided into two bo 
dies, namely, the Hermtoybies, and the Calasiries, the formei 
of which consisted, at the date of their highest power, of 
160,000, and the latter of 250,000 men. Herodotus relates, 
that they had for their subsistence certain nomes or provin- 
ces.* This property was, in general, let out to farmers, like 
that of the kings and priests, who paid them a certain rent. 
No soldier received pay, but every man had an estate of about 
twelve acres, exempt from every charge, which he might cul- 
tivate if he thought proper ; beyond this they were not al- 
lowed to engage in any other occupation than that of arms. 
Each of these great military divisions furnished a thousand 
men to compose the king's personal guard. These men 
Avere changed every year, and during their service, Hero- 

♦ The Hermotybies lived in the provinces of Eusiris, Sais, Chemnis, 
Papremis, and the Isle of Prosopitis, and half of Natho : the Calasiries 
inhabited those of Thebes, Bubastis, Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes, Sebenytus_ 
Athribis, Pharbaethis, Thmuis, Onuphis, Anysis, and the Isle of Myec- 
phoris. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 7? 

dotwf fays, they were supplied with good rations of bread, 
meat, and wine, in addition to their own common revenues. 

Very little is known concerning the internal organization, 
the tactics, and discipline of the Egyptian army. It would 
appear that the king held the privilege of commanding that 
army ; that the right was the post of honour ; and that those 
soldiers who quitted their post, or were disobedient, were 
marked with infamy, but were enabled by good conduct to 
regain the position they had forfeited. They were divided 
into regiments, or battalions, each having its standard with a 
peculiar emblem raised on a pike, and carried by an officer. 
Their arms were the bow, shield, sword, battle-axe, knife or 
dagger, spear, club, and sling. Their besieging engines 
were the battering-ram, the testudo, and the scaling-ladder. 
They had military music, consisting of a kind of drum, cym- 
bals, pipe, trumpet, and other instruments. They were pre- 
pared for the fatigues of war by gymnastic exercises, such as 
wrestling, cudgelling, racing, sporting, and other games, of 
which, representations still exist on the monuments. 

Some authors assert, that Egypt was first furnished with 
cavalry after Sesostris had conquered Libya. But this 
directly opposes the testimony of Scripture, from which source 
we learn that the Egyptians abounded in horses, and possessed 
numerous chariots, at the time of the departure of the Israelites 
out of Egypt, which was several ages anterior to this event. 
We know, indeed, from Gen. 1. 9, that the art of riding on 
horseback was known in Egypt in the days of the patriarch 
Jacob ; and profane historians represent this art as an Egyp- 
tian invention, ascribing it either to Osiris himself, or to his son 
Orus, which intimates that they considered it to be of great 
antiquity. It seems to have been an object of ambition with 
the kings of Egjrp. to keep a great number of horses ; for 
Diodorus mentions that some princes before Sesostris had a 
hundred stables, each for two hundred horses, on the banks 
of the Nile, between Thebes and Memphis : and . we learn 
from Scripture, that the Hebrew kings obtained their horses, 
and also their chariots, from Egypt. That great attention was 
paid in that country to the breed of horses, and that the Egyp- 
tians possessed a valuable breed, appears evident from their 
being prized in other countries, as well as from their paint- 
ings ; and that horses were exclusively used for both war and 
luxury, is confirmed by the testimony of their paintings, and 
the writings of ancient historians. 

But notwithstanding this warlike show, the Egyptians were 

VOL. I. . 7 



74 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

not a warlike people. Egpyt loved peace, because it loved 
justice, and maintained soldiers only for its own security, 
its inhabitants, content with a country which abounded in all 
things, had, generally speaking, no ambitious dreams of con- 
quest. Their kings extended their reputation by sending 
colonies into all parts of the world, and with them, laws and 
politeness. They triumphed by the wisdom of their counsels, 
and the superiority of their knowledge ; and this empire of 
the mind was more noble and glorious to them, than that 
which is achieved by deeds of arms. Nevertheless, Egypt 
has given birth to a few, who, not satisfied with their own. 
possessions, carried Avar and desolation into that of others, as 
we shall see in the section of this history which describes the 
kingdom of Egypt. 

Husbandmen. 

A third caste among the Egyptians was the husbandmen. 
Agriculture has been highly esteemed in that country in all 
ages of the world : from the earliest recorded period, indeed, 
Egypt was the granary of the surrounding nations. See Gen. 
xli. 5, 57. It is supposed by some, as before mentioned, to 
have been the original country of bread corn, and it is certain 
that wheat is first mentioned in connexion with that country. 
It is no wonder, therefore, that husbandmen were highly 
esteemed in Egpyt, and that they formed an important class 
in the state. The great perfection to which they had arrived, 
in the earliest ages, in the art of agriculture, is attested by 
their sculptures. From them we learn that they made 
use of the plough, the sickle, and other implements of 
husbandry, answering, in some degree, to those employed 
among our own husbandmen ; and that the culture of the 
vine, which evinces a high state of agricultural knowledge, 
Avas among the Egyptians an early object of regard. To this 
fact Scripture alludes, Gen. xl. 9, 1 1 ; and ancient writers 
affirm, that the Egyptians claimed for Osiris the honour of 
being the first who cultivated the vine, and extracted wine 
from its fruit. Athenceus, Strabo, Pliny, and Clement of 
Alexandria, specify districts where the vine Avas culti\'ated. 
Their vintage scenes, which still exist in the subterraneous 
temples, and sepulchral caverns of that country, exhibit the 
Egyptians treading the grapes Avith their feet, and depositing 
the expressed juice in jars buried nearly to their mouths in 
the ground. This. Avith the othor principal products ol 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 7£ 

Egypt, described in the physical history of Egj'-pt, tends to 
show how skilful the husbandmen of Egypt were in the art 
of agriculture. In confirmation of this fact, we may mention, 
moreover, that they had various breeds of large cattle, sheep, 
goats, pigs ; and that they reared a quantity of poultry, chiefly 
by artificial means, the eggs being hatched in ovens. 

Diodorus states, that the husbandmen were hired to till the 
estates of the kings, priests, and soldiers. This is confirmed 
by the Scripture account of the cession of all the landed pro- 
perty to the government on the occasion of the famine : hence 
we may conclude, that the husbandman had no rights in the 
soil, the richer peasants farming the land from the proprietor, 
wliile the poor were hired as labourers for the cultivation of 
the ground. The wages paid them were trifling, whence 
some infer that the farmer received the land on moderate 
terms. The cattle, in general, appears also to have belonged 
to the land-owner ; but those employed in the plough, and for 
other agricultural purposes, were usually the property of the 
farmer. In extensive domains, the peasants appear sometimes 
to have acted as superintendents of the herdsmen, and to 
have been obliged to give an account to the steward of the 
number and condition of the cattle on the estate. 

From the testimony of Diodorus, it is evident that the 
farmers were not only permitted to choose the grain they 
intended to cultivate, but were justly deemed the only persons 
of sufficient experience to form a judicious opinion upon the 
subject ; and so skilful were they, says this historian, about 
these matters, that they far excelled the agriculturists of every 
other nation. They carefully considered the nature of the 
soil, the proper succession of crops, and the mode of tilling 
and irrigating the fields ; and by constant observation, and 
the lessons received from their parents, were acquainted with 
the exact season for sowing and reaping, and with all the 
peculiarities of each species of grain. Gardeners were em- 
ployed by the wealthy in cultivating trees and flowers in the 
grounds attached to their houses ; and the vineyard, orchard, 
and tanks, which served as ornaments, as Avell as for the pur- 
poses of irrigation, were under their superintendence. 

The peasants appear to have been divided into hundreds, 
each with a peculiar banner, which they followed when they 
presented themselves before the magistrate for the census, 
which is supposed to have originated in that country, and 
which was taken at stated periods. On these occasion, they 
were obliged to give an account of their conduct ; and if they 



76 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

were found delinquent, they were punished with the stick 
their common mode of punishment, as it is at the present day 
in Persia and China. 

In this caste, some authors place the huntsmen as another 
subdivision, and the boatmen as another ; who, like others 
that composed the subdivisions of each caste, were of different 
grades. Thus, some belonged to the private sailing or pleasure 
boats of the grandees, others to those of burden ; and the 
rank of each depended on the station he held. The office of 
steersman seems to have been the most important, and to have 
ranked above all the other grades ; but, probably, in war, the 
pilots of ships bore the highest station. 

Artificers^ etc. 

A fourth caste among the Egyptians was the artificers and 
tradesmen, and public weighers, etc., who resided in the 
towns. That the Egyptians excelled in science and art is 
evident from their monuments, paintings, and sculptures, 
whereon they are depicted. It is also proved by Scripture, 
which speaks of the " wisdom of Egypt " Avith reference to 
art ; and by the fact that Egypt was deemed by other nations 
the fountain of arts and sciences, and that their philosophers 
were wont to resort thither to collect some of the " droppings 
of Egyptian wisdom." There is a passage in the work of 
Agatharchides on the Red Sea, [see page 1 1,] which describes 
their manner of working gold mines, and smelting the metal. 
The Egyptians were also acquainted with the art of gilding, 
and the art of fabricating glass was early known among them. 
A kind of ancient por<'elain sometimes covered with enamel 
and varnish, is found in considerable quantities in that country. 
Their pottery, as exhibited in their ancient sculptures, was 
often of the most elegant form, and much of their furniture is 
not surpassed by the most refined manufactures of the present 
day. Specimens of their chairs and couches, which are 
given in Rosellini's great work are very beautiful in their 
forms. Linen cloths, plain or embroidered, white or dyed, 
wa* an article of Egyptian manufacture held in high repute 
among foreign nations. See Ezek. xxvii. 7. The art of 
making leather was known to them : their musical instru- 
ments, also, especially the harp, were early brought to great 
perfection. 

According to Diodorus, all trades vied with each other ir 
improving their own particular branrh, no pains being spared 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 77 

to bring it to perfection. To promote this object more 
effectually, it was enacted that no artisan should follow any- 
other trade or employment but that which had been defined 
by law, and followed by his ancestors. No tradesman was 
permitted to meddle with political affairs, or to hold any civil 
office in the state, lest his thoughts should be distracted by 
the inconsistency of his pursuits, or by the jealousy and dis- 
pleasure of the master in whose service he was employed. 
They foresaw that without such a law constant interruptions 
would take place, in consequence of the necessity or the 
desire of becoming conspicuous in a public station ; that their 
proper occupations would be neglected, and that many would 
be led by vanity and self-sufficiency to interfere in matters 
Avhich were out of their sphere. They considered, moreover, 
that to follow more than one occupation would be detrimental 
to their own interests, and to those of the community at large ; 
and that, when men, from a motive of avarice, engage in 
numerous branches of art, the general result is, that they are 
unable to excel in any If any artisan meddled with political 
affairs, or engaged in any other employment than the one 
to which he had^ been brought up, a severe punishment was 
immediately inflicted upon him. 

Shepherds^ etc. 

The last class Or caste among the Egyptians included pas- 
tors, or herdsmen, poulterers, fishermen, labourers, servants, 
and common people. The former of these appear to have 
been held in peculiar contempt among them : hence it is not 
surprising that Pharaoh should have treated the Jews with 
that contempt which it was customary fox every Egyptian to 
feel towards shepherds, or that Joseph should have warned 
his brethren, on their arrival in Egypt, that every shepherd 
Avas an abomination in their sight. Herodotus tells us, that 
the swineherds, in particular, were not permitted to enter the 
Egyptian temples, nor would any man give them his daughter 
in marriage. In the Mendesian nome, hoAvever, according 
to this author, goatherds were much honoured. How much 
all orders of shepherds were in general despised, is proved by 
their sculptures, both of Upper and Lower Egypt, whereon 
they are universally represented as dirty and unshaven ; and 
at Beni-Hassan and the tombs near the pyramids of Geezeh 
they are carricatured as a deformed and unsightly race. 



78 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

LAWS. 

We learn from Herodotus that the kings of Egypt pos- 
sessed the right of enacting laws, and of managing all the 
affairs of religion and state. We are acquainted, however, 
with very few of the laws of the ancient Egyptians ; but the 
superiority of their legislature has been acknowledged in all 
ages as the cause of the duration of their empire — an empire 
which lasted with a uniform succession of hereditary sove- 
reigns, and with the same form of government, for a much 
longer period than, perhaps, any other ancient state. 
,. Besides the right of enacting laws, the kings administered 
justice to their people on those subjects which came under 
their unmediate cognizance, in which they were assisted by 
the most able and distinguished members of the priestly ^ 
order. These, were, indeed, consulted upon all questions of 
importance relating to the internal administration of the 
country. Thus, previous to the admission of Joseph to the 
confidence of Pharaoh, they were asked, " Can we find such 
a one as this is ?" Gen. xli. 38 ; and the prophet Isaiah 
speaks of "the wise counsellors of Pharaoh," Isa. xix. 11. 

The edicts of the Egyptian monarchs appear to have been 
issued in the form of a firman^ or Avritten order, as in all 
oriental countries. These edicts appear sometimes to have 
been issued by delegates. Thus, after Pharaoh had set Jo- 
seph " over all the land of Egypt," it is said, " And Pharaoh 
took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's 
hand," Gen. xli. 42 ; which, Vossius says, was given both 
in token of the dignity to which he preferred Joseph, and 
that he might seal letters and patents in the king's name. 

Causes of ordinary occurrence were decided by those who 
held the office of judges, thirty of whom were selected out 
of the principal cities to form a body for the distribution of 
justice throughout the kingdom. These were elected by the 
king, and they were chosen for their known honesty ; and 
over them was placed one, distinguished for his knowledge 
and love of the laws, and had in universal esteem, with the 
title of arch-judge. These judges had revenues assigned 
them, to the intent, that being freed from domestic cares, they 
might devote their time to the execution of the laws. Thus 
maintained by the king's generosity, they administered to the 
people, gratuitously, that justice to which they have a natural 
right, and which ought to be open alike to the rich and the 
poor. 



HiSTOKY OF THE EGYPTIANSi 79 

To guard against surprise, affairs were transacted by wri- 
ting in the assemblies of these judges. That eloquence was 
justly dreaded which dazzles the mind, and moves the pas- 
sions. Truth could not be expressed with too much plain- 
ness, as that alone was to have the sway in judgments, and 
because, in that alone, the rich and the poor, the powerful 
and weak, the learned and the ignorant, were to find relief 
and security. 

The two leading principles of the duty of these judges 
were, first, that those who had been wronged should be bene- 
fitted by the interposition of the laws : and, secondly, that no 
favour or respect of persons should be permitted. The very 
spirit of their laws was, indeed, to give protection and as- 
sistance to the oppressed ; every thing that tended to promote 
an unbiassed judgment was peculiarly commended by the 
Egyptian sages. 

The president of these judges wore a collar of gold, set 
with precious stones, on which hung a figure represented as 
blind, this being called the emblem of Truth. This was a 
representation of the goddess who was worshipped under the 
double character of Truth and Justice, and whose name, 
Thmeij is supposed by some to resemble the Hebrew Thum- 
mim, a word, according to the Septuagint translation, imply- 
ing truth, Exod. xxviii. 30, and bearing a further analogy in 
its plural termination. When the president put this collar 
on, it was understood as a signal to enter upon business. He 
touched the party with it who was to gain the cause, which 
was the form of passing sentence. 

But it must not be supposed that the president and thirty 
judges, here described, were the only house of judicature in 
Egypt. ' Each capital of a nome, it is probable, had its own 
court for the trial of minor and local offences ; and it is pos- 
sible that this assembly resided wherever the royal court was 
held, and performed many of the same duties as the senates 
of other ancient states. Diodorus, indeed, mentions the 
thirty judges and their president, represented at Thebes in 
the sculptures of the tomb of Osymandas. 

The laws of the Egyptians had the credit of having been 
dictated by the gods themselves ; and Thoth, (Hermes, or 
Mercury,) was said to have framed them for the benefit of 
mankind. Those which are handed down to us by Diodo- 
rus, and other ancient writers, are briefly these : — 

Wilful Murder. — The wilful murder of a freeman or 
slave was punished with death ; from the conviction that men 



§0 



lllSTURVr OF THE EGYPTIANS, 



ought to be restrained from the commission of sin, not on 
account of any distinction of station in life, but from the 
light in which they viewed the crime itself So heinous did 
the Egyptians consider this crime to be, that to be the acci- 
dental witness of an attempt to murder, without endeavouring 
to prevent it, was a capital offence, which could only be pal- 
liated by bringing proofs of inability to act. With the same 
spirit they decided, that to be present when any one in- 
fected a personal injury on another without interfering, was 
tantamount to being a party, and he was punishable ac- 
cording to the extent of the assault. 

But, though the laws were thus inexorable towards the 
murderer; the royal prerogative might be exerted in favour 
of the culprit, and the punishment was sometimes commu- 
ted by the king. Herodotus says, indeed, that Sabaco, dur- 
ing his reign, "made it a rule not to punish his subjects 
with death," whether guilty of murder or any other crime ; 
but, " according to the magnitude of their crimes, he con- 
demned the culprits to raise the ground about the town to 
which they belonged, to preserve it from the Nile's inunda- 
tions." 

Infanticide. — Unlike the Greeks and Romans among Avhom 
fathers had the right of life and death over their offspring, 
the Egyptians justly deemed the murder of a child an odi- 
ous crime that called for the direct interposition of the laws. 
They did not, however, punish it as a capital offence, deem- 
ing it inconsistent to take away life from one who had given 
it to the child, but preferred inflicting such a punishment 
as would induce grief and repentance. To this end, the 
corpse of the deceased infant was fastened to the neck of 
its parent, and he was obliged to pass three whole days and 
nights in its embrace, under the surveillance of a public guard. 

Parricide. — This crime was visited with the most cruel 
punishment. Conceiving that the murder of a parent was 
the most unnatural of all crimes, they endeavoured to pre- 
vent its occurrence by marked severity. The criminal was 
sentenced to be lacerated Avith sharpened reeds, and after be- 
ing thrown on thorns, he was burned to death. 

Perjury. — Truth, or justice, was considered to be the car- 
dinal virtue among the Egyptians, inasmuch as it relates to 
others ; whereas, prudence, temperance, and fortitude being 
relative qualities, benefit only the individual who possesses 
them. Hence it was, that truth was earnestly inculcated 
among them, and any departure from it was not only con 



HISTOKY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 81 

sidered disgraceful, but when it entailed an injury on another 
person, was punishable by law. Those who spoke evil of 
the dead were visited with a severe punishment ; and the 
false accuser was doomed to undergo the punishment Avhich 
the person accused would have suffered had the accusation 
been proved. To maintain a falsehood by an oath was 
deemed the blackest crime, because it attacked both the gods, 
whose majesty is trampled upon by invoking their name to a 
false oath, and men, by breaking the strongest ties of human 
society, namely, sincerity and veracity. The crime was uni- 
formly punished with death. 

Thefi. — A singular custom prevailed in Egypt respecting 
theft and burglary. Those who followed the profession of a 
thief, gave in their names to the chief of the robbers, and 
agreed that he should be informed of every thing they might 
thenceforward purloin. The owner of the lost goods always 
applied by letter to the chief for their recovery, and having 
stated their quality, etc., when the goods were identified, they 
were restored to the applicant on payment of one-quarter of 
their value. The license given by the government to thieves 
arose from the persuasion that an entire check to robbeiy was 
impracticable, either by the dread of punishment or by any 
method that could be adopted by the most vigilant police ; 
hence, they considered it more for the advantage of the com- 
munity that a certain sacrifice should be made in order to se- 
cure the restitution of the remainder, than that the law, by 
taking on itself to protect the citizen and discover the ollender, 
should be in the indirect cause of greater loss. 

Debt. — The laws of the Egyptians respecting debt under- 
went great changes, according as society advxinced, and as 
pecuniary transactions became more complicated. In the 
reign of Bocchoris, about 812 b» c, the law of debt gave rise to 
many disputes and much oppression. To pre ven tthis, Boccho- 
ris enacted, that no agreement should be binding unless it was 
acknowledged by a written contract ; and if any one took an 
oath that the money had not been lent him, no debt should 
be recognised, and the claims of the suing party should imme- 
diately cease. This principle was acted upon, in order that 
great regard might be preserved for the name and nature of 
an oath ; whib, at the same time, by substituting the proof 
of a written document, they avoided the necessity of having 
frequent recourse to an oath, thereby preserving its sanctity. 

In all cases usury was condemned by the Egyptian legisla- 
ture ; and when money was borrowed, even v.'ith a written 



82 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

agreement, it was forbidden to allow the interest to increase 
to more than double the original sum. Creditors could not 
seize the debtor's person : their claims were confined to the 
goods in his possession, and such as were really his own, 
and which were comprehended under the produce of his la- 
bour, or goods received from another individual to Avhom they 
lawfully belonged. This law was borrowed from the Egyp- 
tian code by Solon ; and it Avas, as Diodorus remarks, much 
more consistent with justice and common sense than that 
which allowed the creditor to seize the person, while it for- 
bade him to take his property. 

To prevent the accumulation of debt, and to protect the in- 
terests of the creditor, a remarkable law was enacted, ac- 
cording to Herodotus, by Asychis, who lived about the same 
time as Bocchoris. By this law it was pronounced illegal 
for any one to borrow money without pawning to the credi- 
tor the dead body of his father, which every Egyptian em- 
balmed Avith care, and reverentially preserved in his OAvn 
house, and therefore it might be easily moved from one place 
to another. It was deemed impious not to redeem so sacred 
a pledge, and he who died without having discharged tliis 
duty, was deprived of the customary honours paid to the 
dead ; nor could he inter his children, or any of his family, 
as long as the debt remained unpaid ; the creditor being in 
actual possession of the debtor's family tomb. 

The cause which gave rise to this severe enactment ap- 
pears to have been luxury. At an early age, a fondness for 
display, and the usual allurements of luxury, were introduced 
into Egypt among the rich ; but at this period, the evil ap- 
pears to have descended among the less wealthy, Avho envied, 
and sought to imitate those above them. The result of such 
attempts was, the accumulation of debt to such an extent as 
demanded the interference of the legislature ; this severe mea- 
sure was therefore one of absolute necessity, adopted in order 
to check a growing and a fatal evil. 

Punitive laws. — The object of the Egyptian laws was to 
preserve life, and to reclaim the offender. Death took away 
every chance of repentance, deprived the country of the of- 
fender's services, and hurried him out of the world when 
least prepared to meet the ordeal of a future state: hence, the 
Egyptians deemed it unnecessary to sacrifice the life of an 
offender except in the case of murder, and a few other crimes 
which appeared highly injurious to the community. 

The customary mode of punishment for capitnl crimes was 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 83 

the gibbet. Criminals charged with such were kept " bound" 
in prison till their fate was decided, whether it depended on 
the will of the sovereign, or the decision of the judges. 
Their prisons were under the superintendence, and within 
the house of the chief of the police. See Gen. xxxix. 20 ; 
and xl. 3 — 22. The laws of the Egyptians, however, do not 
appear to have sanctioned the gibbet, or the exposure of the 
body of an offender. The conduct of Rhampsinitus, in the 
case of the robbery of his treasure,* is mentioned by Hero- 
dotus as a singular mode of discovering an accomplice, and 
not as an ordinary mode of punishment. 

Some of the punitive laws of the Egyptians were very 
simple ; the character of them, indeed, was consonant with, 
the notions of a primitive age. These laws were directed 
against the offending member. Thus, adulterators of money, 
falsifiers of Aveights and measures, forgei'S of seals or signa- 
tures, and scribes who altered any signed document by era- 
sures or additions, without the authority of the parties, were 
condemned to lose both their hands ; and those who betrayed 
secret designs to the enemy, had their tongues cut out. 

Thefts, breach of trust, and petty frauds, were punished 
with the bastinado ; and in military, as well as civil cases, mi- 
nor offences were generally punished with the stick, a mode 
of punishment still in vogue among the modern inhabitants 
of the valley of the Nile : the Moslems hold it in such es- 
teem, indeed, that they say, " The stick came down from 
heaven as a blessing to mankind." 

At one period, robbery and house-breaking were considered 
capital crimes, and deserving of death. According to Diodo- 
rus, however, Actisanes enacted a law preventing this extreme 
penalty of the law, and instituted the novel mode of cutting 
off their noses, and banishing them to the confines of the 
desert, where a to^vn was built called Rhinocolura, from the 
nature of their punishment. Thus, continues this author, by 
removing the evil-minded, he benefited society, without de- 
priving the criminals of life ; while at the same time, he 
punished them severely for their crimes by obliging them to 
live by their industry in a barren and inhospitable region. 

One remarkable feature of the Egyptian laws was the 
sanctity with v/hich edicts were upheld from generation to 
generation. Like the Jewish and Moslem laws, they were 
interwoven with the religion of the country, and as they were 

* The historian relates that he caught the thief in a trap which he had 
"'■'ced round the vases in which his treasures were preserved. 



%i HISTOilt Ot" tete EfeVPTIANS. 

Stipposed to be derived from the gods themselves, it was con- 
sidered impious to alter such sacred institutions. Innovations 
were never introduced unless loudly called for by circum- 
stances ; and we neither read of any attempts on the part of 
the people to alter or resist the laws, nor on that of their 
rulers to introduce a more arbitrary mode of government, 
except in the case of Cheops, as recorded by Herodotus ; but 
this cannot be received as indubitable. 

The reader will perceive from this, that occasional altera- 
tions were made in the Egyptian code of laws. Among the 
different legislators of the Egyptians, are particularly noticed 
the names of Mnevis, Sasyches, Sesostris, Bocchoris, Asychis, 
Amasis, and the Persian Darius ; the particulars of which 
will be found narrated in their several histories. In the latter 
"period of the ancient history of the Egyptians, the Ptolemies ■ 
abrogated some of the favourite laws of the country, which 
appears to have given great offence to the native Egyptians, a 
circumstance which cannot be wondered at, since every indi- 
'vidual from his infancy was nurtured in the strictest obser- 
vance of those laws. 

DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY INTO NOMES, OR PROVINCES. 

In the prediction of the overthrow of Egypt, uttered by the 
prophet Isaiah, this passage occurs, ch. xix. 2 : 

" And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians ; 
And they shall fight every one against his brother, 
And every one against his neighbour ; 
City against city, 
And kingdom against kingdom." 

The latter clause of this verse is rendered by the Seventy, 
who were well acquainted with the condition of Egypt, nomos 
tpi nomos^ " nome against nome ;" and an Egyptian ikther, 
Cyril, says, with reference to this verse, " A nome is a city 
with a circumjacent territory, and the places contained in it;' 
in other words, it was a province. 

This division of the country existed in the earliest ages, 
and it subsisted under the Ptolemies and the Romans. The 
number of nomes is not easily determined, for scarcely two 
writers agree on the subject. They seem to have varied at 
diflerent times ;* and they were distinctly marked by differen' 

♦ According to Champollion, Egypt was divided in the time of the Pha- 
raohs, into thirty-six nomes or governments; ton in the Thebais, or Up- 
per Egypt, sixteen in Ilcptanomis, or Middle Egypt, and ten in T.owcr 
Egypt, commonly called tlie Delia. Evh of these nomct;, he says, was 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 85 

iocal usages, and forms, and objects of worship, which would 
be likely to give rise to contention, so that Heeren's conjec- 
ture, namely, that each nome was originally an independent 
settlement and government, having some interests in common 
with others, but also interests that Avere conflicting, and which 
would produce quarrels among them, amount almost to a cer- 
tainty. When these were united into one kingdom by 
powerful princes, the difference of the habits, customs, and 
religion of the inhabitants of each province must necessarily 
hiave prevented harmony ; so that when the general govern- 
ment became weak, these separate members would be dis- 
posed to quarrel, and seek to promote their own interests by 
placing them in a commanding position. Such an event took 
place, according as the prophet foretold, when after the death 
of Sethon, the contemporary of Hezekiah and Sennacherib, 
and an interregnum of two years which followed, the 
monarchy of Egypt was divided into twelve separate king- 
doms. It was to the reign of this oligarchy, and to the 
anarchy and civil wars' Avhich attended its extinction, by 
Psammetichus, one of the twelve, who became thereby abso- 
lute monarch, that the prophet is supposed by most commen- 
tators to refer. 

Over each of these provinces there appears to have been a 
monarch or governor, who ranked in station next to the 
judges or magistrates of the capital. The office of monarch 
was, indeed, at all times of the highest importance. To his 
charge were committed the management of the lands, and all 
matters relating to the internal administration of the district. 
He regulated the assessment and levying of the taxes, the 
surveying of the lands, the opening of the canals, and all 
other agricultural interests of the country, which were under 
the immediate superintendence of certain members of the 
priestly order ; and as he resided in the chief to\vn of the 
nome, all causes respecting landed property, and other acci- 
dental disputes, were adjusted before his tribunal. The dis- 
tinctive appellation of each nome Avas derived from the chief 
town where the monarch resided, and his rank appears to 
have depended on the extent of his jurisdiction. 

Such were the laws and institutions of Egypt, so far as can 
be gleaned from ancient authors. Of the state of Egypt 

divided into districts or toparchies. Diodorous says, that in the time of 
Sesostris, the number of nomcs amounted to thirty-six, and such was the 
nuiv.her in Strabo's time ; hut they were afterwards increased in number, 
if D'Anviile f>tates correctly, to tifty-three. 
VOL. i. 8 



86 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

during the early period of its liistory there is little or no in- 
formation, owing to the uncivilized condition of neighbouring 
states, to the indifference of the Greeks who visited it, or the 
loss of their writings, and above all, to the jealousy of the 
Egyptians towards foreigners ; for like the Chinese, they 
prevented all strangers from penetrating into the interior, and 
abstained from imparting information to them respecting the 
institutions and state of the country. The" knowledge we 
have handed down to us, was collected, when, after the time 
of Amasis and the Persian conquest, foreigners became better 
acquainted with the country, and when its ancient institutions 
had begun to lose their interest, from the influence of a 
foreign rule. From this knowledge, it would appear to have 
been the reverse of a free and happy country ; but it has 
been well observed that "freedom is a word indifferently 
understood in different ages and countries." The Egyptians, 
therefore, trained up as they were from their infancy to 
reverence laws which they deemed immutable, might have 
enjoyed as great a degree of happiness (speaking of happi- 
ness with reference to this life only) as most of the nations in 
the Old or New Avorld. The degradation of the lowest caste, 
however, the waste of human life in the working of their 
mines, and the building of their ostentatious pyramids, with 
the frequency and severity of their summary punishments as 
recorded by Diodorus, and confirmed by existing monuments, 
would convey an idea that those who ruled over them were 
hard task-masters. But it is probable that these labours were 
not performed solely by the natives, but in a great degree by 
slaves, as they certainly were at one time : for the lives of the 
Hebrews were made " bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, 
and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field : all 
their service, wherein they made them serve was with 
rigour," Exod. i. 14. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE KINGDOM OP EGYPT. 



PART I. — EGYPTIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 

No part of ancient history is more obscure than that of the 
first kings of Egypt. Some light has, indeed, been thrown 
on the general subject by the progress made in deciphering 
the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the existing monuments in 
that renowned country ; but still there are thick clouds hang- 
ing over the history and chronology of this period which 
cannot be wholly dispersed. AU that a writer on this subject, 
therefore, can do at the present day, is to place before the 
reader the few genuine fragments preserved by historians, 
sacred and profane ; and the few facts which have been 
snatched from oblivion by the learned. 

According to Egyptian historians and chronologers, first 
gods, and then demi-gods, or heroes, governed that country 
sucessively, through a period of more than tAventy thousand 
years. This fable requires no remark : we know from the 
inspired records of truth, that Egypt Avas first inhabited by 
the family of Mizraim, the second son of Ham, Gen. x. 6, 
about 2613 years b. c. Hence it is, that in the Hebrew 
Scriptures the country is usually styled, " The land of Miz- 
raim," Gen. xiii. 10, etc. ; and that the Egyptians are always 
called Mizraim, or Mizraites. In the east, to this day, the 
country is generally known as the " Land of Mizr," Avhich 
was probably the proper name of the son of Ham ; Mizraim 
being rather the name of the family or people which de- 
scended from him ; as, " Abel-mizraim," the mourning of the 
Mizrites, or Egyptians, Gen. 1. 11. 

The family of Mizrahn, or Mizr, settled first in Upper 
Egypt, where they built the famous city of Thebes, but in 



88 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 

process of time, they gradually spread into the Lower Egypt, 
or Delta. 

This patriarchal regimen, according to Dr. Hales, subsisted 
from 2613 to 2412 years b. c. ; at which time, either by com- 
pulsion or persuasion, Menes first introduced regal govern- 
ment into Egypt. The records of the Egyptian priests, 
indeed, as handed down to us by Herodotus, Manetho, 
Eratosthenes, and others, place the era of Menes several 
years farther back, reckoning a great number of kings and 
dynasties after him, with remarks on the gigantic stature of 
some of their monarchs, and of their wonderful exploits, and 
other characteristics of confused and mystical tradition : but 
all inquiries concerning the history of nations before this 
epoch are founded on mere speculation. 

Menes appears to have been a wise prince. He checked 
the overflowings of the Nile,* by turning its course into a 
more direct channel, and some historians state, that he founded 
the city of Memphis upon the former bed of the river. Menes 
was also a religious prince : he founded the magnificent tem- 
ple of Hephaistos, or Vulcan in the same city, dedicated to 
the Supreme Being. He was, moreover, the father of his 
people. Following the advice of his prime minister Thoth, 
or Hermes, he divided the whole coimtry of Egj'-pt into three 
lots, which lots were appropriated to the crown, the friesthoo^l, 
and the soldiery^ who each farmed out to the people their 
respective shares. 

Of the immediate successors of Menes, nothing is known : 
the order of things, however, which he established, subsisted 
probably till about 2159 years b. c, at which period the legi- 
timate race of kings was succeeded in Lower Egypt by the 
shepherd dynasty, who invaded and subdued that part of 
Egypt. 

One of the best established facts in the early history of that 
country, is, that its lowest territories were subjected to a race 
of pastoral nomades, while the upper country continued sub- 
ject to the native sovereigns. When, however, this pastoral 
dominion commenced, and when it terminated, is a matter of 
controversy among the learned, and which cannot be defi- 
nitely determined. Mr. Wilkinson, from the state of the 
earliest- monuments in Egypt, and from the information 
which they afford, conceives that the irruption of the pastors, 
oi shepherds, was anterior to the erection of any building 

* That is, this work is ascribed to J.Iciics by tlic ancient lii-storian ; but 
it appears to c.\hil;il too much scioiitilic knowledge for so early a period. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 89 

now existing in Egypt, and before the reign of Osirtasen I. ; 
which king he conceives, was coeval with Joseph. It cer- 
tainly is remarkable, that, in concluding from the evidence of 
monuments, that the pastor kings were expelled before the 
accession of Osirtasen, this author obtains the same conclusion 
as that to which Hales and Faber arrived, when, on historical 
data alone, they conceived that this change took place a short 
time before Joseph was appointed governor or regent of 
Egypt ; the latter fixing it about the year 1 899 b. c. The 
sacred narrative, indeed, seems to evince indirect testimony to 
this fact. When Joseph governed Egj'^pt, every nomade 
shepherd was detested at the Egyptian court, in consequence 
of the oppressive and humihating dominion which a race of 
shepherds had exercised in that country ; and it was for his 
sake alone, that his family were allowed to inhabit Goshen 
during the time of the famine. But it was not so in the days 
of Abraham, who visited Egypt about 2077 years b. c, and 
consequently when one of the shepherd kings reigned over 
Lower Egypt. That patriarch was treated with considera- 
tion by the court because he was a pastoral chief See Gen. 
xii. It is true that the fact of th^then ruling monarch bear- 
ing the title of Pharaoh, would seem to subvert this hypo- 
thesis ; but Manetho intimates that the conquering nomades, 
while in the occupation of Egypt, gradually adapted theni- 
selves to the customs and practices of the native Egyptians, 
which would account for this circumstance. The term 
Pharaoh, moreover, which according to Josephus, signified 
" king" in the Egyptian language, would naturally be taken 
by any monarch on the throne of Egypt ; hence, it is applied 
to all indiscriminately in Scripture, till after the days of 
Solomon, as that of Ptolemy was after the conquest of Egypt 
by Alexander. 

These intruders into Egypt appear to have been a tribe of 
Cushite shepherds from Arabia, and to have cruelly enslaved 
the Avhole country under a dynasty of six kings, who were 
called Hycsos, or King-shepherds. The first of these was 
named, 

SAIiATISj SILITES OR NIRMARYADA. 

Manetho says, he resided in Memphis, and imposed a 
tribute on the Upper and Lower Egypt, and put garrisons in 
the most important places. But chiefly he secured the east- 
ern parts of the country, foreseeing that the Assyrians, who 



90 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS 

were then most powerful, would be tempted to invade the 
country likewise. Finding-, therefore, in the Saite nome, a 
city situated most conveniently on the north side of the Bu- 
bastic channel [of the Nile] which was called Avaris, or Aba- 
ris, [the pass,] in an ancient theological book, he rebuilt and 
fortified it most strong^, and garrisoned it with 240,000 sol- 
diers.* Hither he used to come in summer to furnish them 
with corn and pay, and he carefully disciplined them for a ter- 
ror to foreigners. He died after he had reigned nineteen years. 
Of the second king in this dynasty, nothing is recorded, ex- 
cept that he reigned forty-four years. After him succeeded 

APACHNAS, PACHNAN, OR RUCMA, 

in whose reign it is supposed Abraham visited Egypt, and the 
first pyramid was commenced. Concerning this king. Dr. 
Hales says, that the third king was surnamed Rucma, from 
his immense wealth, which he collected by oppressing the 
Egyptians, though " he tenderly loved his own people," the 
shepherds ; and, wishing either to extripate the natives, or to 
break down their spirits by hard and incessant labour, he em- 
ployed them in constructing those stupendous monuments of 
ancient ostentation and tyranny, the pryamids, which are evi- 
dently the factitious mountains meant in the Hindu records, 
originally cased with yellow, white, or spotted marbles, 
brought from the quarries of Arabia, though built of the 
Libyan stone on the spot. 

These stupendous monuments are certainly of the remot- 
est antiquity, and the Hindu record seems to be correct in as- 
cribing the first and greatest pyramid to Apachnas, the third 
of the shepherd-kings, and the rest to his successors. It is, 
indeed, confirmed by the tradition of the native Egyptians, as 
related by Herodotus. This tradition says, they Avere built 
by one Philitis, a shepherd, who kept his cattle in these parts, 
and whose memory was held in such abhorrence that the in- 
habitants Avould not even repeat his name. The time em- 
ployed in building the first pyi'amid, according to Herodotus, 
was thirty-two years and six months, which ranges within the 
reign of Apachnas of thirty-seven years and seven months, 

* Here, as in some other places, the numbers stated by ancient histori- 
ans are given without affixing any remark on the great probability of 
their being exaggerations or over-slatemcnts. That they are erroneous, 
generally there is little doubt ; but they are given only on the authority 
of ancicjil writers, who were too fond of the marvellous. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 91 

according to Manetho. The three great pyramids, Pliny 
says, were built in the space of seventy-eight years and four 
months ; if, therefore, the first was erected by Apachnas, the 
others must have been built by his two immediate successors, 
concerning whom we have no precise information. At length, 
under the sixth king, 

ASSIS, APOPHIS, OK. APHOBIS,* 

the Egyptians, wearied out Avith such long continued tyranny, 
and insupportable labours, rebelled ; and after a war of thirty 
years, succeeded in obliging their oppressors to withdraw 
from their country, after they had enslaved it upwards of 250 
years. Those who survived this warfare withdrew, it would 
appear, to Palestine, where they became the Philistines, a 
name that is derived from Philitis, " shepherds," which comes 
from the Sanscrit, Pali, " shepherd." Manetho's account is 
clear on this point ; though, at first view, an ambiguity is 
produced by his confounding them with another race of 
shepherds, the Israelites, who arrived not very long after the 
departure of the shepherds, and who, after a stay of almost 
equal duration, departed to the same country. That the 
Philistines came from Egypt is very generally agreed. Scrip- 
ture states repeatedly that they came from the country of Caph- 
tor, and that this signifies Lower Egypt, is now generally 
believed. 

This race of shepherd-kings was succeeded by a dynasty 
of native kings ; but of the history and chronology of the 
kings of this period little is known. One, whom the Scrip- 
tures introduce to our notice in the interesting narrative of 
Joseph, is supposed by Mr. Wilkinson to be Osirtasen i., of 
whom he says, that if the name of this monarch was not en- 
nobled by military exploits equal to those of Rameses, the 
encouragement given to the arts of peace, and the flourishing 
state of Egypt during his rule, evince his wisdom ; and his 
pacific character satisfactorily accords with that of the Pha- 
raoh who so generously rewarded the talents and fidelity of 
a Hebrew stranger. But this author's data diifer from the 
Scriptural dates of Hales, which appear to be clearly estab- 
lished, thereby involving a grave difficulty which cannot be 
overcome in any other way than by supposing he has lost the 
century which is wanting to make the time Joseph of and Osir- 

♦ Aphoph signifies a giant. 



92 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

tasen S5mchronise, and to produce a correspondence between 
the Egyptian and Hebrew history of the ensuing years. The 
name of Osirtasen, moreover, stands in the tomb of Beni Has- 
sen as one of the kings of the sixteenth dynasty, according to 
the lists of Manetho. It is better, therefore, to introduce this 
monarch to the reader's notice simply under the Scripture 
name of Pharaoh. 

Passing over the circumstance of his having imprisoned 
his chief butler and baker, as recorded Gen. xL, the first no- 
tice Ave have of this monarch in the sacred narrative, is the 
circumstance of his having dreamed two remarkable dreams. 
He thought that he was standing on the margin of the Nile, 
when he beheld seven beautiful fat heifers come up from the 
streams and feed in a meadow. After a while, at the same 
spot, seven of the leanest and most ill favoured kine that he 
had ever beheld, came up, and stood on the banks with the 
seven fat and beautiful heifers, which they finally devoured. 
The king then awoke ; but falling asleep again, he dreamed 
that he saw seven good and plump ears of corn spring up on 
one stalk ; and after that, there sprang up seven other ears of 
corn, thin, and blighted by the east wind, by which the good 
ears were devoured. Gen. xli. 1 — 7. These dreams appeared 
to have a signification and analogy not common in dreams, 
and therefore the king Avas anxious in the morning to have 
them interpreted. But none of his " wise men," who usually 
interpreted his dreams, could solve their meaning, ver. 8, and 
their failure reminded the chief butler of the dreams which 
the chief baker and himself had dreamed in the prison-house, 
and which Joseph, who, as the reader will recollect, was im- 
prisoned with them, interpreted in a manner that the events 
had justified, ver. 9 — 13. This he related to Pharaoh, and 
the monarch sent an order to the chief of the royal police to 
release Joseph, and send him to the palace. The mandate 
was obeyed, and Joseph came ; when the king, addressing 
him, said, " I have dreamed a dream, and there is none tha'' 
can interpret it : and I have heard say of thee, that thou cansf 
understand a dream to interpret it." To this Joseph modestly 
replied, not willing to encourage delusion in the breast of the 
monarch : " It is not in me : God shall give Pharaoh an an- 
swer of peace," ver. 14 — 16. The king then related his 
dreams, and Joseph told him that they bare the same signi- 
fication, which was, that seven years of exuberant plenty were 
approaching, which would be followed by seven years of 
famine, so severe, that the seven years of plenty would be ut 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 93 

terly forgotten. Then perceiving how the exuberant sup- 
plies of the first seven years might be husbanded so as to meet 
the deficiency of the seven succeeding years, he proceeded to 
lay his views before the king, advising him, at the same time, 
that some wise man should be invested with full powers to 
give effect to the measures suggested, ver. 17 — 36. 

The king, pleased with the interpretation, and struck with 
the wisdom of the plans, by which Joseph proposed to avert 
the evils which that interpretation foretold, asked, " Can we 
find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God 
is ?"' And then he addressed him thus, " Forasmuch as God 
hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise 
as thou art : thou shalt be over my house, and according unto 
thy word shall all my people be ruled ; only in the throne 
will I be greater than thou." After this, he proceeded to in- 
vest him with his high office. He took his own signet ring 
from his finger, and placed it upon the finger of Joseph, con- 
veying to him, by that act, the highest powers he could dele- 
gate, and saying as he did it, " See, I have set thee over all 
the land of Egypt." He then ordered him to be arrayed in 
vestures of fine linen, such as were worn only by majesty, 
after which he placed with his own hands a chain of gold 
about his neck. Then, it being the custom in the east in 
those days to promulgate with great pomp and ceremony such 
acts of royal favour, and to make known the authority con- 
ferred, he commanded that Joseph should be conducted in 
procession through the city, in the second of the royal chariots, 
and that heralds should proclaim before him, " Bow the 
knee," ver. 37 — 43. 

When Joseph returned, and again stood before the king, 
Pharaoh expressed in stronger language his own views of the 
powers he had conferred. Reserving his own authority, he 
said, "I am the king;" but he added, " without thee shall 
no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt," 
ver. 44. 

The act of raising a foreigner and a slave to such a high 
office appears to have been very unusual in ancient Egypt. 
All the avenues to power and in the state were zealously 
guarded by the priesthood, who disliked the intrusion of any 
one not of their own order. Hence, that tlae foreign origin 
of Joseph might not be constantly presented to their view, the 
king changed his name to Zaphnath-paaneah, " the revealer 
of secrets;" and that he might establish him in his position, 
by securing him the countenance and support of the priestly 



94 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTL*NS. 

order, he brought about his marriage with Asenath, the 
daughter of Potipherah, the chief priest of On or Heliopolis, 
the city of the sun, who was, without doubt, one of the most 
eminent and influential of his illustrious order, that city being, 
as we have seen, the prime seat of the sacred mysteries and 
science of that country, ver. 45. 

Shortly after his elevation, Joseph made a tour through the 
land of Egypt, in order to acquaint himself with the state of 
the country, and with the materials with which he had to 
work, and to determine the arrangements which might be ne- 
cessary to give effect to his contemplated measures. In this 
tour of survey, he directed the construction of immense gran- 
aries in the principal cities, and established proper officers, 
who were charged with the duty of buying up one-fifth part 
of all the corn during the seven years of plenty within the 
surrounding district. For this purpose, the whole land was 
divided into districts, of probably nearly equal extent. All 
this was effected ; and the corn thus purchased was stored 
away in the granaries for use during the years of famine, 
ver. 46 — 49. 

Those years of famine arrived as was foretold. The coun- 
tries from whence the Nile flowed not being visited Avith 
rains in their season, that circumstance kept back, for seven 
long years, the fertilizing inundations of that river, and u 
general dearth was the consequence. The surrounding 
countries, also, seem to have been visited with the same 
drought, as they experienced the like visitation of famine, 
ver. 54, 55. 

When the pressure of the famine began to be felt by the 
Egyptians, they cried to Pharaoh for bread. The king re- 
ferred them to Joseph, and that wise statesman now opened 
all the store-houses, and sold corn, not only to the Egyptians, 
but, with some restrictions, to other countries, ver. 56, 57. 
In the second year of the famine, when their money was all 
spent, they again came to Joseph for bread; and he offered 
to supply them with corn in exchange for their cattle, Avhich 
Avas cheerfully accepted. By this means subsistence was 
secured for another year ; but in the year following, they had 
no cattle left wherewith to buy food. In this exigency, they 
came to Joseph, therefore, and freely offered to transfer their 
lands to the king, and to place their persons at his disposal, 
on the condition that they should be supplied with food while 
the famine lasted, and with seed to sow the land when it 
again became cultivable. This Avas ngreed to. and Jospph 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 95 

brought the people who were scattered throughout the open 
country into the adjacent cities, wherein the provisions were 
stored, for the greater ease of distribution. The lands thus 
voluntarily sold, Joseph farmed to the occupiers again, at the 
moderate and fixed crown rent of a fifth part of the produce. 
Thus, says Dr. Hales, did he provide for the liberty and in- 
dependence of the people, while he strengthened the 
authority of the king, by rendering him sole proprietor of the 
lands. And to secure the people from further exaction, 
Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt, that Pharoah 
should have the fifth part ; which law subsisted to the time 
of Moses, Gen. xlvii. 22 — 26. By this wise regulation, the 
people had four-fifths of the produce of the lands for their 
own use ; and were exempted from any further taxes, the 
king being bound to support his civil and military establish- 
ment out of the crown-rents. Whereas, by the original con- 
stitution, settled by Menes and his prime minister, Thoth, or 
Hermes, (as we learn from Diodorus,) che lands had been all 
divided between the king, the priesthood, and the soldiery, 
who possessed each a separate third part to support their re- 
spective establishments. The revenues of the crown, there- 
fore, were rather abridged than increased by this regulation, 
while Joseph respected the primitive usage, and bought not 
" the land of the priests ;" but during the continuance of the 
faminf), he fed them at the king's expense : so that, by the 
royal bounty, " they sold not their lands." Thus was this 
'.onsummate statesman so truly " discreet and wise," because 
he was guided by the Spirit of God ; "a father to Pharoah" 
and his people, and a blessing to the world, whom God, in 
kindness, raised up to preserve life to many nations by a great 
deliverance. 

Among the many foreigners who came down to Egypt to 
buy corn, on account of the dearth in their own lands, were 
the brethren of Joseph, Gen. xlii. 1 — 6. This was in the 
first year of the famine, and the eighth of his regency. It 
would appear, that, although the Egyptians themselves could 
purchase the corn of the officers appointed by Joseph for that 
purpose, no strangers could obtain it till they had received his 
own special permission. To him, therefore, they came, and 
fulfilling at once the dreams v/hich, in their anger, they had 
endeavoured to frustrate, (see Gen. xxxvii.,) they bowed 
themselves before him, as " the governor over the land," 
Gen. xlii. 6. Although twenty-t-.vo years had elapsed since 
they had sold him for a sl'ive, they were recognized by 



96 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Joseph, and seeing that his brother Benjamin was not there, 
he appears to have apprehended that they had destroyed him 
also out of jealousy; and remembering his dreams and their 
cruelty, he " spake roughly unto them," and charged them 
with being spies, come to see the nakedness of the land, 
ver. 7 — 9. 

To understand the full force, and to appreciate the alarm 
this charge must have occasioned, the reader-must recollect 
the circumstances we have before related concerning the 
reign of the shepherd race in Egypt, their expulsion and their 
settlement in Palestine, under the name of the Philistines. 
The tyranny of these invaders was still fresh in the minds of 
the Egyptians, so that every shepherd was an abomination to 
them, and they could not endure to eat bread with the He- 
brews, because they were shepherds, and came from the 
neighbourhood of Palestine. They were apprehensive, also, 
that the Philistines, who were a warlike people, and who pro- 
bably had been gathering strength ever since their expulsion 
from Egypt, might again attempt to conquer that country. 
Hence that they were spies, come to seek an opening for 
future conquests, was an obvious suspicion for an Egyptian 
to entertain, and the charge, to strangers especially, must have 
been alarming. Traces of such attacks may be discoA^ered in 
the First Book of Chronicles, from whence we learn that the 
Philistines were a nation that caused much alarm to the dif- 
ferent nations around. 

But the brethren of Joseph protested their innocence, and, 
in their anxiety to repel the charge, they entered into a par- 
ticular detail of the circumstances of their family, in which 
they afforded him all the information he required ; namely, 
that his father, Jacob, was alive and well, and his brother Ben- 
iamin safe under the paternal roof, ver. 10 — 13. 

The varied and touching incidents connected with this 
event are so beautifully narrated by the sacred historian, that it 
is best to refer the reader to that portion of holy writ for the 
details, (see Gen. xlii., xliii., xliv., and xlv.,) and pass on to 
that part of Egyptian history wherein it is intimated that 
Pharoah heard the rumour that Joseph's brethren were come 
to Egypt. 

The kind monarch seems to have heard the circumstance 
with pleasure, which is a pleasing evidence of the esteem in 
which Joseph was held at court. He immediately sent for 
Joseph, and authorized him to express his kindest intentions 
towards his father and his brethren: and, seeing that it would 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 97 

he best for them to come to Egypt, he had the consideration 
to direct that they should be well supplied with provisions for 
the way, and that they should be furnished with conveyances, 
in which the aged patriarch, with the women and children, 
might travel from Canaan to Egypt Avith comfort, Gen, xlv. 
16—20. 

Good old Jacob heard the news of his Joseph's exaltation 
with caution ; but when he was convinced of it, in the exu- 
berance of his joy, he exclaimed, "It is enough; Joseph my 
son is jei alive : I will go and see him before I die," ver. 21 
— '28. Towards this country, therefore, he sojourned, 
pausing at Beersheba to offer sacrifices in that place. Here 
he was favoured with a dream which reheved him of all fears 
about the ultimate success of the step he was taking. He 
was assured in that dream that his sojourn in Egypt was a 
part of the divine plan concerning his race, which should 
there be fostered into a great nation, and then brought forth 
from thence. Thus encouraged, Jacob proceeded on his 
way, and he finally entered Egypt with all his family, about 
1863 years b.c. See Gen. xlvi. 1 — 27. 

Without having consulted the king, Joseph, it would ap- 
pear, had fixed upon the land of Goshen as the future abode 
of his father's family ; and that, not only as being suited to 9. 
pastoral people, but as that which the Egyptians, under all 
circumstances, would be the most willing to see in their oc- 
cupation. Accordingly, the land of Goshen, being a border 
district, in the direction of Palestine, was the first p^rt which 
Jacob reached, and Joseph after the first emotions of their ten- 
der meeting had subsided. Gen. xlvi. 28 — 30, directed that 
they should remain there, while he Avent to make known his 
arrival to the king, and learn his pleasure concerning them. 
For this purpose, he took with him five of his brethren, who, 
after he himself had carried the news to the king, were in- 
fioduced into the royal presence. The king asked them 
what was their occupation ; and they, as they had been 
taught, answered, they were shepherds, as all their fathers 
had been. They then added, that they had come to sojourn 
in Egypt, for in the land of Canaan the drought had been so 
severe that they could find no pasture for their flocks, and 
they concluded with a request, that they naight be allow- 
ed to remain among the pastures of Goshen. The Idng, 
turning to Joseph, told him that the whole land was at Kis 
disposal, to place them in the best part of it — in Goshen, if 
that district seemed the xnost suitable for them. He farther 

VOL. T. 9 



98 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

desired him, if among his brothers there were men of suffi- 
cient ability to make them overseers of his (the king's) own 
cattle, Gen. xlvii. 1 — 6. 

The policy of the Egyptian court, says Dr. Hales, in 
giving a possession or establishment to Joseph's family, in the 
land of Goshen especially, was wise and liberal. This coun- 
try stretched along the Bubastic or Pelusiac branch of the 
Nile, and formed the eastern barrier of Egypt, towards Pales- 
tine and Arabia, the quarters from which they most dreaded 
invasion ; whose " nakedness" was now covered, in a short 
time, by a numerous, a brave, and an industrious people ; 
amply repaying, by the additional security and resources 
which they gave to Egypt, their hospitable reception and 
naturalization. 

Joseph having succeeded in his plan of placing his father's 
family in the land of Goshen, he introduced the aged patri- 
arch, also, to the king. Jacob respectfully saluted the 
monarch, in acknowledgement of the consideration and favour 
with which he had been treated ; and the king, struck by his 
venerable appearance, entered into conversation with him, 
particularly inquiring his age. The answer of Jacob was 
impressive : " The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an 
hundred and thirty years : few and evil have the days of the 
years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of 
the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgri- 
mage." After some further conversation, Jacob having again 
saluted Pharoah, and blessed him, Avithdrevv from his pre- 
sence. Gen. xlvii. 7 — 10. 

This is all the information we have concerning this 
monarch of Egypt : how long a period he reigned, and AA^hen 
he died is not known. The brief notice we have of him, 
however in the sacred page, shoAvs that he was a good and 
wise prince, and had the interest of his people at hear|. 
Joseph, his prime minister, died about 1792 years B.C. 

Concerning the other monarchs, AA^ho reigned during this 
period, we haA'e still briefer notice. There appears to have 
been tAvo, Amun-m-gori, and Osirtasen ii., of Avhom Mr. Wil- 
kinson says, that independent of the encouragement given by 
them to the agricultural interests of the country, they con- 
sulted those AA'ho Avere employed in the inhospitable desert ; 
and the erection of a temple, and a station to command the 
wells, and to serve for their abode in Wady Jasoos, proved 
that they were mindful of their religious rites as aa'cII as of 
their temporal protection. The breccia quarries of the Kos- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 99 

sayr, or Cosseir road, were already opened, and probably also 
the emerald mines of Gebel Zabara. 

Besides these monarchs, Dr. Hales places a queen of the 
name of Nitocris (called Nicaule by Josephus) in this period, 
and fixes the date 1742 years b. c. Concerning this queen, 
Herodotus relates a singular stratagem, devised by her, to re- 
venge the murder of her brother and predecessor. She in- 
vited a number of Egyptians to an entertainment, in a large 
subterraneous apartment, which she had built ; and, by a pri- 
vate canal, let in the vsraters of the river upon the company, 
and drowned them all ; and afterwards destroyed herself 

The names of the monarchs who reigned immediately after 
Nitocris, cannot be specified with any degree of certainty. It 
was during this period, however, that the Israelites were cru- 
elly oppressed in Egypt. After recording the death of Joseph, 
with " his brethren, and all that generation," the sacred narra- 
tive goes on to say, " Now there arose up a new king over 
Egypt, which knew not Joseph," Exod. i. 8. This new king 
is regarded, by Faber and Wilkinson, as the first king of a 
new dynasty : and the latter, who argues that this new king 
was Amasis, says : Amasis, or Ames, was the leader of the 
eighteenth dynasty, and the period of his accession, and this 
change in the reigning family, strongly confirms the opinion 
of his being the "new king who knew not Joseph." And if 
we consider that he was from the distant province of Thebes, 
it is reasonable to expect that the Hebrews would be strangers 
to him, and that he was likely to look upon them with the 
same distrust and contempt with which the Egyptians usually 
treated foreigners. They stigmatized them as a race of im- 
pure people, and the ignoble occupation of shepherds was for 
the Jews an additional cause of reproach. 

Indeed, it is possible, that the Jews, who had come to Egypt 
on the occasion of the famine, finding the great superiority of 
the land of Egypt, both for obtaining the necessaries of life 
and for feeding their flocks, may have asked and obtained a 
grant of land from the Egyptian monarch, on condition of 
certain services being performed by them and their descend- 
ants. As long as the Memphite dynasty continued on the 
throne, this grant was respected, and the only service required 
of them was that agreed upon in the original compact. But, 
on the accession of the Theban family, the grant being re- 
scinded, and the service still required, they were reduced to 
a state of bondage; and as despotism seldom respects the 
rights of those it injures, additional labour was imposed upon 



100 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

this unresisting people. And Pharaoh's pretended fear, lest, 
in the event of war, they might make common cause with the 
enemy, was a sufficient pretext with his own people for op- 
pressing the Jews,- at the same time that it had the effect of 
exciting their prejudices against them. Affecting, therefore, 
some alarm at their numbers, he suggested that so numerous 
a body might avail themselves of the absence of the Egyptian 
troops, and endanger the safety and tranquillity of the country, 
and that prudence dictated the necessity of obviating the pos- 
sibility of such an occurrence. With this view, they were 
treated Hke captives taken in war, and were forced to perform 
the gratuitous labour of erecting public granaries and other 
buildings for the Egyptian monarch. 

But the monarch whom Wilkinson conjectures to have 
been him by whom the Hebrews were first oppressed. Lived, 
according to Dr. Hales, at the time of the exode of the Israel- 
ites, and as there must have been more than one reigning 
monarch in Egypt during the period of their cruel bondage, 
there is no alternative left us but to pursue this portion of 
Egyptian history with reference to those various monarchs 
under their general Scripture name of Pharaoh, as before. 

What were the motives by which Pharaoh was actuated 
in this line of policy towards the Hebrews, cannot be posi- 
tively asserted. Josephus says, that the act was intimately 
connected with the expulsion of the shepherds, and the same 
author also tells us, that the shepherds were yet lingering on 
the frontiers, and fortifying the city Aouaris, and that they 
did again rally and overrun Egypt a second time in the reign 
of the last king of the eighteenth dynasty. These circum- 
stances would certainly furnish a colourable plea, which 
would, doubtless, be taken advantage of to oppress the Israel- 
ites ; but such cannot be stated as facts. 

The course which this monarch adopted to subdue the 
Israelites to his yoke, was by compelling them to relinquish 
their mode of life as tent-dwelling shepherds, and by fixing 
them down as cultivators of that soil originally granted them 
for pasturage. This, to a free people, unaccustomed to la- 
bour, he supposed, and that naturally, would have the eflect, 
not only of subduing their spirits, but of reducing their num- 
bers. In the first place, as we learn from Exod. i., he re- 
quired that they should make bricks, and with them build 
towns and villages, a mode of labour hitherto unknown to 
them. Pithom and Raamses, as before stated, were erected 
by them. These cities Avere prolmbly intended to be held by 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 101 

the Egyptians, to enforce the new measures, as well as to fur- 
nish secure places to which they might bring, and in which 
they might treasure up the corn and other produce paid to 
the king for the rent of his lands. The situation of these 
treasure cities is not exactly known ; but there is no doubt, 
as all accounts show, that they were placed in the land occu- 
pied by the Hebrews. But before the land could be made 
available for the purposes of cultivation, it was necessary to 
cut canals, construct dams, and to execute many other works 
requiring much drudgery ; and such undertakings as these, 
would be very hateful to a pastoral people ; they would be so 
felt at the present day by the Bedouins. They would not, 
indeed, have executed such, unless by compulsion. This 
Pharaoh knew, and the execution of his orders was therefore 
confided to " taskmasters," who were charged with responsi- 
bihties which caused them to exact the services required with 
rigour. Thus, in the emphatic language of the sacred histo- 
rian, " they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in 
mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the 
field : all their service, wherein they made them serve, was 
with rigour," Exod. i. 14. 

But the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they 
mukiplied and grew, and the more Pharaoh and the Egyp- 
tians were alarmed. A new expedient, therefore, was sought 
to check their increase. The Hebrew midwdves were or- 
dered to destroy all the male children that should be born. 
But this command was not obeyed ; the midwives alleging 
that the Hebrew were more lively than the Egyptian women, 
and consequently did not require their assistance. Upon this, 
the cruel monarch issued an edict that all the male infants 
should be destroyed, Exod. i. 15 — 22. 

This cruel decree was in force at the birth of Moses, sixty- 
four years after the death of Joseph, and was probably en- 
acted soon after the birth of his elder brother Aaron, who 
was not subject to the decree. This illustrious legislator of 
the Hebrews was of the tribe of Levi, in the line of Kohath 
and of Amram, whose son he was. By a singular provi- 
dence, the infant Moses, when exposed on the river Nile, in a 
frail bark of papyrus, coated on the outside with bitumen, and 
inside with the slime of that river, through fear of the royal 
decree, after his mother had hid him three months, was taken 
up and adopted by Pharaoh's own daughter, and nursed by 
his own mother, whom she hired at the suggestion of his sis- 
ter Miriam. When the child needed a nurse no longer, he 

9* 



102 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

was" taken home to the house of the princess by whom he 
was saved, thus finding an asylum in the very palace of his 
intended destroyer. Here he was instructed in all that wis- 
dom of the Egyptians which was the admiration and proverb 
of all surrounding nations, Exod. ii. 1 — 10. 

It does not appear that the murderous edict against the 
Hebrew infants was long in force. We are, however, unac- 
quainted with the considerations which led to its repeal. It 
is possible, that the people of Lower Egjrpt, generally, were 
not prepared to go to this extent with the court in such a bar- 
barous measure against the Hebrews, and that their murmurs 
were heard and respected. Or it may be, as has been sup- 
posed, that this daughter of Pharaoh had interest enough 
with her father to induce him to revoke this fulminating de- 
cree. Another alternative may be, that, as this measure seems 
to have been adopted at the latter part of this king's reign, the 
accession of a new king was attended with a change of policy 
towards the Hebrews, which involved the preservation of 
their infants, and which may to this extent have been influ- 
enced by the monarch's sister. It may be mentioned, indeed, 
that some conclude, from the fragments of Manetho, and the 
hieroglyphics on the sculptures, that Ammoph i., who bears 
the character of "a great encourager of the arts of peace,"* 
began his reign about this period, and that he was succeeded 
by Ameuse, his sister, the patroness of Moses, and Thothmes 
I., her husband, whose accession to- the throne took place 
about the time that Moses comes again under our notice in 
the Egyptian history, as recorded in Scripture, and as noticed 
in the succeeding paragraph. 

But if new monarchs had arisen, if the order to destroy the 
Hebrew children was withdrawn, and the policy of the Egyp- 
tian state was changed towards that people, their " hard 
bondage " was by no means relieved ; they were still doomed 
to toil imder the inspection of " taskmasters." But the day 
of their redemption drew nigh. When Moses was grown 
to manhood, and was full forty years of age, it Avould appear 
that he was moved by a Divine impulse to undertake the de- 
liverance of his countrymen. See Acts vii. 23 — 25. 

He left the court of Pharaoh, and took part with the de- 
spised and afflicted bondsmen. He " refused to be called the 

* The well-known design of Jews at work, brick-making, is found in 
the tomb of Kekshari, who was his superintendent of public works. 
Hence, that he was one of the oppressors of the Hebrews, appears to be 
an authenticated fact. 



lilSTOflY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 103 

son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing rather to suffer afflic- 
tion with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
sin for a season," Heb. xi. 24, 25. But in the height of his 
zeal to redress their grievances, going forth one day, he saw 
a Hebrew atrociously maltreated by an Egyptian officer, and 
kindling at the sight, he delivered him by slaying his oppres- 
sor. This deed became known to the monarch, who sought 
to slay him, but he fled for his life to the land of Midian, in 
Arabia Petrea, where he married Zipporah, the daughter 
of Jethro, or Reuel, prince and priest of Midian, and he, as a 
shepherd, kept his flocks in the vicinity of Mount Horeb, or 
Sinai, for forty years, Exod. ii. 1 1 — 25. 

At the end of that time, it is recorded in Scripture that 
" the king of Egypt died." Exod. ii. 23. It is, however, 
the opinion of some that Thothmes i. died after a reign of 
twenty-seven years, and that he was succeeded by a queen 
whom Mr. Wilkinson calls, Amun-neit-gori, who has hitherto 
given rise to more doubts and questions than any other sove- 
reigns of this period. This author says of Amun-neit-gori : 
Whether she was only regent during the reign of Thothmes 
u. and HI., or succeeded to the throne in the right of Thothmes 
I., in whose honour she erected several monuments, is still 
uncertain, and some have doubted her being a queen. The 
name has been generally erased, and those of the second and 
third Thothmes are placed over it ; but sufficient remains to 
prove that the small temple of Medeenet Haboo, the elegant 
edifice under the Gloorneh rocks, and the great obelisks of 
Karnak, with many other handsome monuments, were erected 
by her, orders, and the attention paid to the mihtary caste is 
testified by the subjects of the sculptures. 

In what character this princess operated, in the reigns of 
Thothmes ii. and in., cannot now be known, and therefore 
we proceed to notice the latter monarch. It is said, that the 
reign of Thothmes ii lasted ten years, and that consequently 
the fortieth year from the flight of Moses fell in the reign of 
his successor, Thothmes in. If this be correct, he is to be re- 
garded, therefore, as the Pharaoh who so madly opposed 
Israel's deliverance. 

At this period, the oppression of the IsraeUtes was come to 
the full, and they cried to God for succour. Their cry was 
heard. Moses was leading his flocks round the eastern arm 
of the Red Sea into the peninsula of Sinai, and when near 
the mountain of Horeb, " the God of glory" appeared to him 
in a flame of fire, from the midst of a bush, and announced 



104 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

himself as " the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and th« 
God of Jacob," and commissioned him first to make known 
to the Israelites the Divine will for their deliverance ; and 
ttext to go with the elders of Israel to Pharaoh, requiring him, 
in the name of "the Lord God of the Hebrews," to sufier 
the people to go three days' journey into the wilderness, to 
sacrifice unto the Lord their God, Exod. iii. 

Charged with this high and arduous mission, Moses de- 
parted from the shores of the Red Sea, to return to the banks 
of the Nile. As he advanced towards Egypt, Aaron received 
the Divine command to go forth and meet his brother in the 
wilderness, and to assist him in his mission : and afterwards 
they proceeded together to the land of Goshen, Exod. iv. 

On appearing before the king, Aaron announced that Je- 
hovah, the God of the Hebrews, had appeared to them, and 
had sent them to require the king to allow the Israelites to 
hold a feast to him in the wilderness. The monarch was 
doubtless astonished at such a demand. He replied, " Who 
is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I 
Know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." But they 
Still persisted in their demand, explaining more particularly, 
that they wished the people to go three days' journey into the 
wilderness to ofier sacrifices to God, and intimating that the 
Israelites might expect to be visited by " the pestilence or the 
sword" unless they were obedient. The king did not deign 
to reply to this, but dismissed them with a reprimand for put- 
ting such wild notions into the heads of the people, and call- 
ing away their attention from their occupations, Exod. v. 
1—4. 

The same day, the king, affecting to attribute this applica- 
tion to a leisure life, determined to bring down their spirits 
by adding to their burdens : " Let there more work be laid 
upon the men," said he, " that they may labour therein ; and 
let them not regard vain words." It vras now, indeed, ordered 
that they should no longer be furnished with the straw where- 
with they compacted the bricks, but that they should collect it 
for themselves, Avhile the same number of bricks should be 
exacted which they had formerly been required to supply. 
Under these circumstances the work could not be done, and 
they were beaten for deficiencies which they could not pre- 
vent, ver. 5 — 23. 

The prophet and his minister came again unto Pharaoh, 
and at this second interview, in obedience to the Divine com- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 105 

mand, again required him to let the children of Israel go out 
of his land. Pharaoh, as foretold, demanded of them a miracle 
in proof of their commission. Aaron accepted the challenge ; 
he cast down his rod, and it became a serpent before Pharaoh, 
Exod. vii. 1—10. 

This gave occasion to, perhaps, the most extraordinary con- 
test on record. The king called upon his wise men and ma- 
gicians, to know if they could do as much by the power of 
their gods, and " they also did in like manner with their en- 
chantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they 
became serpents : but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods," 
ver. 11, 12. This feat, however, is particularly easy of ex- 
planation. The ancient Egyptians Avere, as the modern 
Egyptians now are, very famous in the art of charming ser- 
pents. They can perform operations upon them, which will 
strike the ignorant with amazement. At their command, they . 
will sleep, and become torpid, and lie as if dead : they will 
come at the call of the charmer, and lie in the folds of their 
garments, or twine around their necks without hurting them. 
The Egyptians also have always been, and are now, skilful 
jugglers, and able with great address to substitute one object 
for another. Hence, these men might have brought live ser- 
pents and adroitly substituted them for their staves ; and al- 
though Aaron's serpent swallowed up the other serpents, 
thereby showing the superiority of the true miracle over the 
false, it might, as Dr. Hales observes, only lead the king to 
conclude, that Moses and Aaron were more expert jugglers 
than Jannes and Jambres who opposed them, 2 Tim. iii. 8, 
who, as St. Paul informs us, from Jewish traditions, were the 
chief of their opponents. 

This miracle was therefore abortive with regard to its effect 
upon the king. It seems, indeed, not to have been understood 
by the Hebrews themselves ; on which the same writer re- 
marks : " The incredulity of Pharaoh on this occasion only 
resembled the incredulity of the Israelites themselves, when 
the same miracle was wrought before them ; and it was not 
considered as decisive, even by The Lord, when he supposed 
they might not be convinced till the third miraculous sign, 
as was actually the case ; Exod. vi. 8, 9, compared with iv. 
30, 31. In both cases, therefore, the reality of the transforma- 
tion, might have been doubted — by Pharaoh, as well as by the 
Israelites, on the supposition that it might have been the effect 
of legerdemain." 



106 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

But the monarch was soon undeceived ; for 

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT 

followed in its train. The design of these visitations, growing 
more awful and tremendous in their progress, was to malce 
Pharaoh know and confess that the God of the Hebrews was 
The Supreme Lord ; and to exhibit his power and his justice 
in the strongest light to all nations of the earth, Exod. ix. 16 ; 
1 Sam. iv. 8, etc. : to execute judgment upon the Egyptians, 
and upon all their gods, inanimate and bestial, for their cruelty 
to the Israelites, and for their grovelling polytheism and idol- 
atry, Exod. vii. 14 — 17; xii. 12. 

As it may be of some importance to understand the time of 
the year in Avhich these plagues occurred, we introduce the 
following satisfactory statement, from the pen of Dr. Hales : 

" Neither the season of the year, nor the time at which the 
plagues commenced, is any where specified ; but both may be 
collected from the history. The exode of the Hebrews, after 
the tenth plague, was about the vernal equinox, or beginning 
of April, on the fifteenth day of the first month, Abib, Exod. 
xii. 6 ; but by the seventh plague, that of hail, the barley was 
smitten, but not the wheat and rye, those plants being of later 
growth. Now Egmont, Hayman, and Hasselquist, all concur 
in stating that the barley harvest in Egypt is reaped in March 
and April ; and Le Brun states that he found the whole to be 
over at Cairo upon the nineteenth of April. This coincides 
with the sacred historian's account, that ' the barley was in 
the ear,' though not yet fit for reaping ; but ' the wheat and the 
rye were not grown up,' Exod. ix. 31, 32. This judgment, 
therefore, must have occurred about a month before the exode, 
or in the beginning of March, before the barley harvest, so as 
to leave space fdr the three succeeding plagues. If we count 
backwards two months, upon the same principles, for the first 
six plagues, it will bring the first about the beginning of Jan- 
uary, when the winter season commences, at which time the 
river Nile was lowest, and its waters clearest." 

THE FIRST PLAGUE. 

The river Nile was the principal divinity of the Egyptians, 
and, as such, it was honoured with feasts and sacrifices, and 
rites of ceremonial worship. One morning, as the king went 
forth towards its banks, probably to render it an act of worship, 
he .was there met by Moses and Aaron, who repeated their 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. L07 

demand. Being again refused, they announced, in the name 
of Jehovah, an act which they intended to perform upon the 
river, and the object for which they would perform it, that 
Pharaoh might know that it was The Lord that wrought by 
their hands. Then, in the presence of the king and his ser- 
vants, the prophet lifted up his rod, and smote the river, and 
its pure waters were forthwith changed into blood. The 
change even operated upon all the rivers of Egypt, the nu- 
merous canals and reservoirs which were fed by the Nile, 
and upon that water which had been preserved in vessels of 
wood and stone for domestic use. This calamity continued 
for seven days, during which all the fish that were in the river 
died ; many of which were worshipped by the Egyptians, and 
most of which formed a large and principal article of diet 
among them. This, therefore, was a complicated, and must 
have been a grievous calamity to them. They loathed, indeed, 
to drink of these streams they once adored, and which were 
held more pleasant and salutary than any other which the 
earth could offer ; and they began to dig the ground for pure 
water. I'his they found, and the magicians operating upon it, 
probably by chemical means, so as to give it a blood-like ap- 
pearance, Pharaoh's heart was hardened a second time, and 
he would not let the Hebrews go, as was demanded, Exod. 
vii. 14—25. 

THE SECOND PLAGUE. 

Moses and Aaron again delivered a message to Pharaoh : 
" Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve 
me." But they were again unheeded ; and Aaron, directed by 
Moses, smote the river again ; Avhen lo ! (together with another 
of the Egyptian gods, the frog, which was consecrated to the 
sun, and considered as an emblem of divine inspiration in its 
inflations) it Avas once more made the instrument of their pun- 
ishment. The frogs cwcne up from the river, and covered the 
land of Egypt, penetrating every where, and polluting and 
defiling every thing they touched ; their beds, ovens, and knead- 
ing-troughs, not being exempt. This the Egyptian priests 
contrived, also, to imitate on some small scale ; but, as they 
could do nothing for the removal of the plague, Pharaoh began 
to be troubled. He sent for Moses and Aaron, and entreated 
them to pray to Jehovah to remove the frogs, and then he 
Avould let the Hebrews go to render him sacrifice. The frogs 
were removed on " the morrow," but when Pharaoh saw there 



108 ffiSTORt OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

#*s a re^pitg, his heart was hardened a third time, and h« 
forewent his promise, Exod. viii. 1 — 15. 

THE THIRD PLAGUE. 

The next plague, which was that of Hce, was produced 
without any previous intimation to Pharaoh. "Aaron," it is 
said, " stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust 
of the earth, and it became hce in man, and in beast ; all the 
dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt." 
This must have been pecuUarly offensive to a people so super- 
stitiously nice and cleanly as the Egyptians, and above all to 
their priests ; who, as Herodotus informs us, used to shave 
their whole bodies every third day, that no vermin might be 
found upon them while they were employed in serving their 
gods. Plutarch says, also, that they never wore woollen 
garments, but linen only, because linen is least apt to produce 
vermin. The magicians themselves were, moreover, disgraced 
by this miracle. They tried to imitate it, but failed on account 
of the minuteness of the objects ; and they were forced to con- 
fess, that this was no human feat of legerdemain, but wrought 
by "the finger of God," or, as they meant, by some superna- 
tural agency. Thus Avas their folly made manifest unto all 
men. But, notwithstanding this declaration, the heart of 
Pharaoh was hardened a fourth time, and he hearkened not 
unto Moses and Aaron, Exod. viii. 16 — 19. 

THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 

This plague, since the word Arob, by which it is described, 
denotes a mixture, is of doubtful interpretation. Some have 
concluded that it consisted of an immense number of beasts 
of prey ; but it is more probable that every kind of annoying 
insect is intended; and this is the sense in which the worJs 
are considered by the English translators of the Bible. 
Amongst these insects may be enumerated the gadfly, or 
hornet, and the Egyptian beetle, both of which insects, 
brought forth in great numbers, would have been a fearful 
scourge. If these were a part of this plague, then the Egyp- 
tians, in this event, also, were punished through the medium 
of their idols; for both occupied a place among their sacred 
Creatures. It is not said wht?ther the magicians imitated this 
plague, but it is described as being so severe, that it extorted 
Pharaoh's partial consent: "Go ye, sacrifice to your God in 
the land ;" and when Moses and Aaron represented the 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 109 

offence they avouM give to the Egyptians, who would stone 
them for sacrificing animal sacrifices, he reluctantly consented 
that they should go beyond its borders ; " only," he added, 
" ye shall not go very far away." He further desired them 
to " entreat " for him that the plague might be removed. 
Moses expressed his readiness to intercede with Jehovah for 
the removal of the plague, at the same time venturing to add 
this caution, " Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in 
not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord." But no 
sooner had this calamity passed away, than the pledge of this 
king was again broken ; he " hardened his heart at this time 
also, neither would he let the people go," Exod. viii. 20 — 32. 
This new breach of promise, however, drew do"\vn on the land 
of Egypt still more severe visitations. ■ 

THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 

This plague was of a more deadly description than any of 
the preceding. This was the plague of murrain, under the 
effects of which, great nimibers of the cattle of Egypt died, 
while those of the Hebrews remained unharmed. This dis- 
tinction, which had not hitherto been made, was notified to 
Pharaoh in the threatening of the plague by Moses, and he 
sent to assure himself whether it had taken place ; but he still 
remained obdurate, and he would not yet give them permis- 
sion to go as desired, Exod. is. 1 — 7. 

THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 

The monarch of Egypt had so often abused the respites 
and warnings vouchsafed to him and his servants, that now 
a sorer set of plagues, affecting themselves, began to be in- 
flicted. By the Divine command, Moses, in the presence of 
Pharaoh, sprinkled ashes of the furnace toward heaven, and 
an ulcerous inflammation of the most painful and violent de- 
scription broke forth ; not only upon man, but on such of the 
cattle as had hitherto been spared. It affected even the 
priestly magicians themselves, which so shamed them, that 
they retired from the presence of Moses, thus relinquishing 
all rivalry and opposition. 

This, says Dr. Hales, was a very significant plague ; " the 
furnace" from which the ashes were taken, aptly represented 
" the iron furnace" of Egyptian bondage, Deut. iv. 20 ; and 
the scattering of the ashes in the air, might have referred to 

VOL. I. 10 



110 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the usage of the Egyptians in their Typhonian sacrifices of 
human victims ; while it converted another of their elements, 
and of their gods, the air, or ether, into an instrument of 
their chastisement. And now The Lord for the first time 
" hardened the heart of Pharaoh," after he had so repeatedly 
hardened it himself, " and he hearkened not unto them ; as 
the Lord had spoken unto Moses." Though Pharaoh pro- 
bably felt the scourge of the boil, as Avell as his people, it did 
not soften nor humble his heart. And when he wilfully and 
obstinately turned away from the light, and shut his eyes 
against the luminous evidences vouchsafed to him' of the su- 
premacy of the God of the Hebrews, and had twice broken 
his promise, when he was indulged with a respite, and dealt 
deceitfully^ he became a peculiar object of just punishment, 
and the hardness or obduracy of his heart increased. And 
such is the usual and the righteous course of his providence: 
when nations or individuals despise the warnings of Heaven, 
abuse their best gifts, and resist the means of grace, God then 
delivers them over to a reprobate or undiscerning mind, " to 
work all uncleanness with greediness," Rom. i. 28 ; Eph. iv. 
19 ; Exod. ix. 8—12. 

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 

This plague was announced to Pharaoh and his servants, 
with unusual solemnity. Moses was charged to make his 
wonted demand, which he did in these emphatic words: 
" Thus saith the Lord God of the HebreAvs, Let my people 
go, that they may serve me. For I Avill at this time send all 
my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and 
upon thy people ; that thou mayest know that there is none 
like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, 
that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence ; and 
thou shalt be cut off from the earth. AxvA. in very deed for 
this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my 
power ; and that my name may be declared throughout all 
the earth. As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, 
that thou wilt not let them go? Behold, to-morrow about this 
time I. Avill cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such. as hath 
not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until 
now." At the time appointed, " the morroAV," Moses lifted 
up his rod towards heaven, and the predicted storm of hail, 
accompanied with fearful thunderings and vivid lightnings, 
the flames of which ran along the ground, commenced. The 



HISTORY OF THE EGYrTIANS. Ill 

Storm was so heavy, and the hailstones of such prodigious 
size and weight, that they killed man and beast, shattered the 
trees, and destroyed the crops of flax and barley. These ef- 
fects had been intimated, and the prediction was mercifully 
coupled with the advice that those Avho believed, and feared 
the Lord, should place their servants and cattle under shelter 
before it took place ; and the effect which had been produced 
upon the minds of the Egyptians is shown by the fact, that 
many of Pharaoh's servants did believe, and caused their 
servants and their cattle to " flee into the houses," lest they 
should be destroyed. 

Seeing that rain is exceedingly rare, and hail almost un- 
known in Egypt, so fearful a storm as this must have been 
one of the greatest marvels to the Egyptians. And it must 
have appeared more striking, since the land of Goshen was 
totally exempt from its effects. The obdurate heart of Pha- 
raoh was, indeed, struck with awe at this visitation : he called 
for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, '• I have sinned 
this time : the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are 
wicked. Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be 
no more mighty thunderings and hail ; and I will let you 
go, and ye shall stay no longer." Moses, well acquainted 
with the monarch's character, plainly intimated that he placed 
no reliance on his promise ; nevertheless, he engaged to ob- 
tain an immediate cessation of the storm. The storm ceased, 
and Pharaoh, when he saw there was respite, " hardened his 
heart, he and his servants ; neither would he let the children 
of Israel go," Exod. ix. 13—35. 

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE. 

Another demand was made, and upon Pharaoh's refusing 
compliance, the arrival of an army of locusts was announced, 
which should destroy every green thing that had escaped the 
destroying effects of the hail. In announcing this visitation, 
mention is made of one very important object of this and the 
ensuing plagues : this was, that the faith of the Hebrews 
themselves might be confirmed. 

The army of locusts came, and they completed the havoc 
begun by the hail. The sacred historian says, they " went 
up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of 
Egypt : very grievous were they ; before them there were no 
such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For 
they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was 



112 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

darkened ; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all 
the fruit of the trees which the hail had left : and there re- 
mained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of 
the field, through all the land of Egypt." Noav, although 
locusts are very common in Arabia, they very rarely appear 
in Egypt ; the Red Sea forming a barrier against them, as 
they are not formed for crossing seas, or for long flights. On 
the present occasion, however, they were enabled, by a strong 
east wind, to cross that sea from Arabia, which is another re- 
markable circumstance, as the prevailing winds in Egypt, 
blow six months from the north, and six months from the 
south. The plague must, therefore, have appeared to the 
Egyptians altogether preternatural. As such they looked 
upon it, and such was its powerful operation, that Pharaoh 
called for Moses and Aaron, and avowed his fault, and begged 
for one reprieve more. " A.nd the Lord turned a mighty 
strong west wind," (which blew from the Mediterranean Sea, 
in a north-westerly direction,) " which took aAvay the locusts, 
and cast them into the Red Sea," so completely, that " there 
remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt." But 
when relief had been given, Pharaoh would not allow the 
Hebrews to take their families and flocks, though he was 
still willing that the men should do as they desired, Exod. 
X. 1—20. 

THE NINTH PLAGUE 

This obduracy on the part of the Egyptian monarch 
brought a new and most extraordinary plague upon Egypt. 
In that land, where a dark cloud seldom throws an obscura- 
tion on the clear blue face of the skies, for three days there 
was utter darkness — a darkness which, to use the sacred 
writer's own emphatic words, "might be felt," and which 
prevented the people from seeing one another. This pheno- 
menon must have been not only astounding, but humiliating 
to the Egyptians, since their great deity, the sun, and dark- 
ness, another of their deities, were made the instruments of 
their punishment. Their consternation thereat is strongly 
represented by their total inaction. Petrified with horror, no 
one rose from " his place for three days," and Pharaoh, com- 
pelled to relax, offered to let the men and their families go, 
but he wished to keep the flocks and herds, ns security for 
their return. Moses represented that, as they were going for 
the express purpose of offering sacrifices to Jehovah, it was 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 113 

necessary thaX the cattle should go with them ; and he peremp- 
torily declared, that "not a hoof" should be left behind, 
Exod. X. 21 — 27. But the proud monarch determined not 
to relinquish this last security which would remain to him, 
and Moses, perceiving his obstinacy, proceeded to predict 
another visitation. 

THE TENTH PLAGUE. 

The account of the last and most severe plague is best 
given in the emphatic words of Scripture : — " Thus saith the 
Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt : 
and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the 
firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto 
the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill ; and 
all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry 
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like 
it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the 
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against 
man or beast : that ye may know how that the Lord doth put 
a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all 
these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down 
themselves unto me, saying. Get thee out, and all the people 
that follow thee : and after that I will go out." Such a 
threat, delivered in so high a tone, both in the name of the 
God of Israel and of Moses, exasperated the haughty mon- 
arch, and he answered, in sentences rendered abrupt by 
passion : " Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my 
face no more ; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt 
die." Moses withdrew from the monarch's presence, and 
finally from the court, to join the Hebrews in the land of 
Goshen, Exod. x. 

On that night, while the Jews were celebrating a newly 
instituted feast, the passover, which had reference to the 
coming event, the destroying angel went forth in a pestilence, 
and smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, as predicted. 
Throughout the whole country, there were lamentations and 
bitter weeping, for there was not a house into which death 
did not enter. The monarch himself rose up in the night, 
with his nobles, and the Egyptian people, in great sorrow ; 
and he sent to Moses and Aaron a message to this effect: 
" Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye 
and the children of Israel ; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have 
said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, 



114 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

and be gone; and bless me also." The Egyptian people 
also, "^vere urgent upon the people, that they might send them 
out of the land in haste ; for they said. We be all dead men," 
Exod. xi., xii. 

The Israelites obeyed the mandate, but the haughty mon- 
arch soon repented of what he had done ; and, by a strange 
infatuation, " he made ready his chariot, and took his people 
with him," and pursued after them. He overtook them, 
encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, (the mouth of the 
ridge,) over against Baal-zephon. When the children of 
Israel beheld him marching after them, they were alarmed, 
and were disposed to submit without resistance to their 
oppressors. •' Let us alone," said they, " that we may serve 
the Egyptians. For it had been better for us to serve the 
Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." 
Moses did not deign to remonstrate with them, but meekly 
replied, " Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the 
Lord, which he will show to you to-day : for the Egyptians 
whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more 
for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold 
your peace." 

. The Lord did interfere, and fight for Israel. At the lifting 
up of the rod of Moses, he opened a passage for them across 
the Red Sea ; and the host of Pharaoh, presuming to follow 
after them, when the Hebrews were safely landed on the 
opposite shore, were involved in one common destruction. 

Again the prophet stretched his dreadful wand : 
With one wild crash the thundering waters sweep, 
And all is waves — a dark and lonely deep ; 
And strange and sad the whispering surges bore 
The groans of Egypt to Arabia's shore. — Heber. 

TJie pride of Egypt was ov&rwhelmed ; " there remained 
not so much as one of them," Exod. xii., xiii., xiv. 

Manetho, and the Egyptian writers, says Dr. Hales, have 
passed over in silence this tremendous visitation of their na- 
tion. An ancient writer, however, Artapanus, who wrote a 
history of the Jews about b.c. 130, has preserved the follow- 
ing curious Egyptian traditions : " The Memphites relate, 
that Moses, being well acquainted with the country, watched 
the influx of the tide, and made the multitude pass over the 
dry [bed of the] sea. But the Heliopolitans relate, that the 
king with a great army, accompanied by the sacred animals, 
pursued after the Jews, who had carried off with them the ' 
substance of the Egyptians. And that Moses, having been 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 115 

directed by a Divine voice to strike the sea w^ith his rod, 
when he heard it, touched the water with his rod ; and so the 
fluid divided, and the host passed over through a dry way. 
But when the Egyptians entered along with them, and pur- 
sued them, it is said, that fire fiashed against them in front, 
and the sea, returning back, overwhelmed the passage. 
Thus the Egyptians perished, both by the fire, and by the re- 
flux of the tide." 

The latter account is extremely curious : it not only con- 
firms Scripture, but it notices three additional circumstances. 
I. That for their protection against The God of Israel, the 
Egyptians brought with them the sacred animals ; and by 
this means, God executed judgment upon all the [bestial] 
gods of Egypt, as foretold, Exod. xii. 12, who perished with 
their infatuated votaries ; completing the destruction of both, 
which began with smiting the first born both of man and 
beast. 2. That the recovery of the "jewels of silver, and 
jewels of gold, and raiment," which they asked and obtained 
of the Egyptians, according to the Divine command, Exod. 
xii. 35, 36, was a leading motive with the Egyptians, to pur- 
sue them ; as the bringing back the Israelites to slavery had 
been with " Pharoah and his servants," or officers. And, 
3. That the destruction of the Egyptians was partly oc- 
casioned by lightning and thunderbolts, from the presence of 
the Lord: exactly corresponding to the psalmist's subhme 
description : " The waters saAV thee, O God, the waters saw 
thee ; they Avere afraid : the depths also were troubled. The 
clouds poured out water : the skies sent out a sound : thine ar- 
rows also went abroad. — Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scat- 
tered them ; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations 
of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the 
blast of the breath of thy nostrils," Psa. Ixxvii. 16, 17; 
xviii. 14, 15. 

The exode of the Israelites, and the destruction of Pharoah 
and his host, is dated by Dr. Hales, 1648 years b. c. This 
learned author, also, as well as other chronologers, enumerates 
many monarchs who ruled over Egypt after this period ; but 
as Scripture, which is the most ancient piece of history extant 
is silent from the time of the exodus till the days of Solomon 
concerning Egypt, (a fact which proves that the storm of war 
had passed off either to the w^estward of Palestine, or that the 
Egyptian conquerors followed the maritime roads by Gaza 



116 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

and the Phenician coasts, leaving Judea to the right,) our 
knowledge of these monarchs is very limited. What is 
known, is derived partly from profane authors, and partly 
from the hieroglyphics and tradition, neither of which speak 
of some of the monarchs enumerated by chronologers.* The 
first monarch of whom there is any historical information after 
the exode is 



MOERIS, OR MYRIS.t 

The name of Moeris is not found on the Phonetic inscrip- 
tions ; nevertheless his reign is a well authenticated fact ; 
and he seems to have been one of the wisest and best of the 
Egyptian kings. To him is ascribed the formation of the 
lake Moeris, now called Kairoun, which was designed to re- 
ceive the redundant waters of the Nile, and to discharge 
them by sluices, for the irrigation of the lands when the 
river failed. According to Herodotus, this lake was about 
450 miles in circumference, and, from the varied statements 
of modern travellers, from thirty to fifty miles long, and from 
six to ten miles wide, and its deepest part 200' cubits, or 100 
yards ; which is too great a work to have been excavated by 
human labours. Nothing, indeed, says Browne, can pre- 
sent an appearance so unlike the works of men. On the 
north-east and south is a rocky ridge, in every appearance, 
primeval. It would be safer, therefore, to understand, that 
Moeris only opened a communication between the river and 
this vast natural basin, which runs parallel thereto from north 
to south, about ten miles distant, and made a canal, eighty 
stadia, or about four leagues in length, and three plethra, or 
100 yards, in breadth, as described by Diodorus. This 
would have been a stupendous work, and far more glorious 
than either the pyramids or the labyrinth, if we consider it 
with reference to its utility ; for it was used for the three-fold 
purposes of agriculture, commerce, and a fishery. This ca- 
nal is now called Bahr Jusuf, or " Joseph's river," and it is 

* For the names of these monarchs we refer the reader to the lists of 
dynasties given at the conclusion of the book. 

t Between the exode of the Israelites, and the reign of Moeris, there 
were several monarchs of Egypt, but, as we have no authentic information 
concerning them, it must be considered as a blank in the history. Their 
names will be found in the lists at the end of the book. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 117 

vulgarly ascribed to that great man, while regent of Egypt. 
This has arisen, probably, from the circumstance, that the fa- 
mous Sultan Joseph Saladin (who made that wonder at Cairo 
called " Joseph's well," attributed also to the patriarch,) re- 
paired this celebrated work. 

Besides this, Moeris is said to have built two great pyra- 
mids in the midst of this lake, 600 feet high, the half of 
which was covered by the water. These are mentioned both 
by Herodotus and Diodorus ; the former of whom, whose 
veracity is unimpeachable, says that he saw them, and that 
on the top of each there was a stone colossus sitting upon a 
throne. These pyramids are not, however, mentioned by 
Strabo, nor are they to be met with at the present day ; from 
which circumstance it has been asserted, that there is not a 
fact in history, in which testimony and observation are more 
at variance. 

Moeris appears also to have been attentive to religious ob- 
servances. He built the northern portico of the temple of 
Vulcan, at Memphis, which was more stately and magnifi- 
cent than all the rest. This is noticed both by Herodotus 
and Diodorus, the former of whom sums up the notice of the 
various works of Moeris with this observation, " These are, 
indeed, lasting monuments of his fame." 

The greatest work ascribed to Moeris was the famous 
labyrinth, from whose model that of Crete was afterwards 
copied by Dasdalus ; and in which, Pliny says, not a single 
piece of wood was used, being entirely constructed of stone. 
Herodotus, says Mr. Wilkinson, attributes its foundation to 
the twelve kings in the time of Psammeticus ; but tradition 
seems to have ascribed it to Moeris, though it is possible that 
the son of Neco and his colleagues may have enlarged it. 
Pliny asserts, it was first built by king Petesuccus, or Tithoes, 
though others affirm it to have been the palace of Motherus, 
or the sepulchre of Moeris ; and received opinion maintains 
that it was dedicated to the sun. Diodorus, again, mentions 
Mendes, or Maron, or Marrus, as the founder, while others 
have put forth the claims of Ismandes, probably Osymandas, 
and various other monarchs. 

Manetho has attributed nineteen years and six months for 
the reign of this prince ; but this appears too short a period 
for the various and stupendous works which he executed : 
hence. Dr. Hales thinks, that the reign of Harmesses, his 
predecessor, which is stated to have been sixty-six years twc 



118 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 

months, should be assigned to Moeris. The death of Moeris 
is dated u. c. 1308. 



SESOSTRIS. 

If" the authority of Diodorus is admitted, seven generations 
intervened between Moeris and Sesostris ; but Herodotus 
seems to place the latter as his immediate successor. By 
some writers, Sesostris, or, as Diodorus calls him, Sesosis, 
was reputed to have been the son of Amenophis in., whom 
Dr. Hales identifies with Moeris ; and they record that about 
the period of liis birth, the god Vulcan appeared to his father 
in a dream, informing him that his child should become lord 
of the whole earth. 

Josephus supposed that this celebrated monarch of Egypt 
was the Shishak or Sesac of Scripture, who invaded Reho- 
boam and plundered the temple of Jerusalem ; a supposition 
which has been adopted by many able chronologers, but 
which is now generally abandoned as untenable. 

The incidents recorded in the life of Sesostris are more 
numerous and stirring, and better authenticated, than any of 
his immediate predecessors. He was not only, indeed, one 
of the most powerful kings of Egypt, but one of the great- 
est conquerors recorded in the annals of antiquity. Diodo- 
rus relates, that the father of Sesostris formed a design of 
making him a conqueror, while yet he was but an infant. 
For this purpose, he took up all the children throughout 
Egypt, born on the same day with his son, to be educated 
with him, and caused them to be trained alike in the same 
rigid discipline of the public schools, that they might com- 
pose a band of companions, attached to his person, and quali- 
fied to fill the first civil and military departments of the state. 
The chief part of their education was the inuring them to a 
hard and laborious life, in order that they might one day be 
capable of sustaining the toils of Avar, and of excelling in 
brute force. They were never suffered to eat till they had 
run on foot or horseback a considerable race, and hunting 
was their most usual exercise. 

It is remarked by iElian, that Sesostris was instructed by 
Mercury in politics and the art of government. This Mer- 
cury is he whom the Greeks called Trismegistus, "thrice 
great," and to whom, some say, Egypt owes the invention of 
almost every art. But as .Tambilicus, a priest of Egypt, af- 
firms, that it was customary for the Egyptians to affix the 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 119 

name of Hermes, or Mercury, to all the new books or inven- 
tions that were offered to the public, it seems erroneous to as- 
cribe them to one man, and the error may have arisen from 
that circumstance. 

During his father's lifetime, Sesostris reduced the Arabians, 
who had never been conquered before, eastward ; and the 
Libyans, westward ; and, encouraged by these successes, he 
formed the design of conquering the known world. Accord- 
ingly, when his father died, he prepared for his ambitious en- 
terprise. But before he left his kingdom, he provided for his 
domestic security, in winning the hearts of his subjects, by 
his generosity, justice, and obliging behaviour. He was no 
less studious to gain the affection of his officers and soldiers, 
being well assured, that all his designs would prove unsuc- 
cessful, unless his army should be attached to his person by 
the ties of esteem, affection, and interest. He divided the 
country into thirty-six governments, called Nomi, and be- 
stowed them on persons of merit and approved fidelity. 

In the mean time, he made the requisite preparations, 
levied forces, and headed them with officers of bravery and 
reputation, chiefly taken from among the youths who had 
been educated with him. It is said, that the number of his 
officers was 1,700, and that his army consisted of 600,000 
foot, and 24,000 horse, besides 27,000 armed chariots : all 
numbers, however, of so large an amount, at this early period 
must be received Avith caution. 

Sesostris began his expedition by invading Ethiopia, or 
Abyssinia, situated on the south of Egypt. This country he 
rendered tributary, obliging the nations thereof to furnish him 
annually with a stated quantity of ebony, ivory, and gold. 
He then reduced the islands of the Red Sea, or Persian Gulf, 
with his fleet. He is said, also, to have marched an army 
by land as far as India, eastwards, and to have penetrated 
even beyond the Ganges ; but this is, probably, a fiction of 
the Egyptian priests, who reported it to Diodorus, from 
whom we derive the information. After this, he turned his 
arms northwards, subdued the Assyrians and Medes of Up- 
per Asia, and crossing over into Europe, subdued the Scy- 
thians and Thracians. But he received a check at the river 
Tanais. where he was in danger of losing his army from tbe 
difficulty of the passes, and the want of provisions. He left 
a colony in the ancient kingdom of Colchis, situated to the 
east of the Black Sea, where the Egyptian manners and cus- 
toms have ever been retained. lie likewise erected pillai? in 



120 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the conquered, countries, as trophies of his victories, on which 
were inscribed, 

" SESOSTRIS, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS, SUBDUED 
THIS COUNTRY BY HIS ARMS." 

Several of these pillars were seen by Herodotus and Strabo 
in Palestine, Syria, Arabia, and Ethiopia ; and it is probable 
that the pillar which Josephus said was remaining in the land 
of Siriad in his days, and which he ascribed to the antedilu- 
vian Seth, was one of those erected by Sesostris. 

Of these pillars seen by Herodotus in Syria, Mr. Wilkin- 
son, who identifies Sesostris with Rameses u., says, there is 
little doubt that one of the tablets, or stelae^ alluded to by the 
historian, still exists in Syria, bearing the name of Rameses 
n. It is at the side of the road leading to Beiroot, close to the 
river Lycus, now Nahr-el-Kelb ; and though the hiero- 
glyphics are much erased, sufficient remains to show by 
whose order it was sculptured. Near it is another, accom- 
panied by the figure of a Persian king, and inscribed with 
the arrow-headed character, copies of which have been lately 
made by Mr. Benomi ; and thus the memorials of the passage 
of the Egyptian army, marching triumphant over Asiatic na- 
tions, and that of the Persians, victorious over Syria and 
Egypt, are recorded in a similar manner at the same spot. 
And yet now, these two stones are all the traces that remain 
of these direful contests and mighty efforts. 

One remarkable trait is observable in the character of Se- 
sostris, which is, that he had no idea of preserving the con- 
quests he was at so much pains to achieve. It was sufficient 
for him to have subdued and despoiled those nations, to have 
made wild havoc in the world, and to have erected these 
monuments ; for after that period, he confined himself almost 
within the ancient limits of Egypt, a feAv neighbouring pro- 
vinces excepted. He returned home triumphant, bringing 
immense spoils and innumerable captives to Egypt. There, 
glory unknown to his predecessors awaited liim ; but it was 
that glory which was erected on the woes of mankind, and 
which, sooner or later, would be exchanged for shame, not- 
withstanding the false gloss which historians may throw over 
the character of such conquerors. 

On his return, it is recorded, that Harmais, his brother, 
whom he had left as regent or viceroy in Egypt during his 
expedition, conspired to destroy him and his family at a ban- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 121 

quet which he had prepared for him in Daphne, near Pelu- 
sium, by setting fire to the house. He lost two of his sons in 
the flames, but escaped himself with four more, and, as He- 
rodotus relates, punished his brother, but in what manner we 
are not informed. 

As a monument of gratitude for this deliverance, Sesostris 
rebuilt the temple of Vulcan, at Memphis, the immense stones 
of which are noticed by Herodotus. In front of this temple, 
he placed six colossal statues, two of them thirty cubits high, 
representing himself and his queen ; and the other four, 
twenty cubits high, representing his four sons who had 
escaped the flames. 

Sesostris also erected temples in every city; raised em- 
bankments to the river ; and dug numerous canals, for the 
supply of water, the conveyance of corn and provisions, and 
the security of the country against foreign invasion. He also 
built a wall across the desert from Pelusium to Heliopolis of 
1,500 stadia, or about 187 miles in length, to secure Egypt 
from the irruptions of its neighbours, the Syrians and Ara- 
bians ; thus adopting the wise policy of the shepherd kings. 
His great work was, the raising a considerable number of 
high banks, or moles, in which new cities were built, in or 
der that man a:nd beast might be secure from any unusual in- 
undations of the Nile. 

In all these various public works, Sesostris employed only 
captives. This is certified by an inscription found upon 
many of the monuments, which reads thus : " None of the na- 
tives were put to labour here ;" and which may be looked 
upon as a tacit reprobation of the ostentatious pyramids of the 
shepherd kings, who so cruelly enslaved the Egyptians. It 
appears, indeed, to have been the policy of Sesostris to be ten- 
der over his own people, while he oppressed those he had 
taken captives, forgetting that mankind were all " made of 
one blood," and therefore have all a demand upon our sym- 
pathy. 

So great was the regard which Sesostris bore to his people, 
that he made an equal division of the lands to them ; eissign- 
ing a square piece of ground to each, and reserving to him- 
self' an annual rent from the tenants, Avith directions to his 
surveyors to make proper abatements should the river en- 
croach on any man's land. It was no wonder, therefore, that 
his memory was highly honoured in Egypt, even to remote 
ages. This may be gathered from Diodorus, who relates, 
that when Darius Hystaspes obtained the crown of Persia, 

VOL. .1. 11 



122 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

he wished to have his own statue placed above that of Sesos- 
tris at Memphis, against which the high priest protested in 
council, declaring that Darius had not yet exceeded the noble 
acts of Sesostris, a declaration with which that monarch had 
the good sense to agree. 

Such was this hero of antiquity. He was one of the best 
and wisest monarchs that ever sat upon the throne of Egypt ; 
but his glory was tarnished by his restless ambition, which 
made him a fierce scourge to mankind ; and by a blind fond- 
ness for his own grandeur, which made him sometimes for- 
get that he was human. It ■ is said, that the kings and chiefs 
of the conquered nations came at stated times to do homage 
to the victor, and pay the appointed tribute ; and that, when 
he went to the temple, or entered the capital, he would cause 
them to be harnessed to his car four a-breast, instead of 
horses ; a deed which exhibits at once a pitiful vanity, and 
barbarous inhumanity. Such appears probable to have been 
a fact ; for the Theban artists have introduced a similar in- 
stance of cruelty in the sculptures of the temple of Medeenet 
Haboo, representing the triumphal return of Rameses iii. ; 
and of Osirei, at Karhak, after his conquest in the eastern 
war ; where three captives are tied beneath the axle of his 
chariot, with their faces toward the ground, while others, 
bound with ropes, walk by the side of his horse, to be pre- 
sented to the deity of the place. This fact would seem to 
confirm the statement of some authors, namely, that Sesostris 
is to be identified with Rameses m. 

The latter days of Sesostris were embittered by the misfor- 
tune of losing his sight, which so affected him, that he put a 
period to his existence, an act foolishly regarded by the Egyp 
tians as worthy of a pious and good man, and rs becoming u 
hero admired of men and beloved by the gods, whose merited 
gifts of eternal happiness he had hastened to enjoy. How 
awful is this error ! and how differently are mankind taught 
by the sublime doctrines of the Bible ! They learn there 
that they should wait all their appointed days on earth till 
their change comes ; that they should endure afflictions with 
patience, thereby possessing their souls ; and that should they 
endure unto the end, being Christians in deed and in truth, 
they shall receive a croAvn of life. On the other hand, Ave 
discover that those who madly rush into the presence of their 
Maker, as Sesostris did, are lost for ever. It is no matter 
whether the act is committed by a hero, or by a hitherto pious 
and good man ; the knell of hope is sounded by it, and he 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 123 

sinks for ever in remediless woes. The life of man is not his 
own. It is a sacred gift from the Creator of the universe, 
and we are bound to preserve it, till he requires it again. 
That man not only violates nature, but defies his Maker, who 
lays violent hands on himself Reader, if you contrast the 
conduct of the patient Job with that of the rash Sesostris, you 
will discern the infinite superiority of the true over false reli- 



gion 



The death of Sesostris occurred, according to Dr. Hales, 
about B. c. 1275, after a reign of thirty-three years. 

PHEUON. 

Sesostris was succeeded in his kingdom by his son Pheron 
the Sesoosis ii. of Diodorus, and the Nuncoreus of Pliny. 
Pheron was the very reverse of his father : fond of ease and 
pleasure, he undertook no military expedition ; and by his 
indolence, he even lost the remoter conquests which his father 
had gained. In his reign, the Assyrians are supposed to 
have shaken off the Egyptian yoke, and recovered their 
liberty. 

Herodotus records only one action of this prince, and that 
carries with it the air of romance. He says, that in an ex- 
traordinary inundation of the Nile, which exceeded eighteen 
cubits, Pheron, being enraged at the wild havoc which it 
made, threw a javelin at the river, as if to chastise its insolence, 
thereby provoking the river god, who punished him for his 
impiety with the loss of sight. 

Like his father, Pheron appears to have been affected by a 
Aveakness of the eyes, which terminated in total blindness ; 
but though it continued during eleven years, he at length re- 
covered, owing more probably to some operation which the 
noted skill of the Egyptians had suggested, than to the cause 
assigned by Herodotus. Both Diodorus and Pliny agree 
with the historian of Halicarnassus, that he dedicated two 
obelisks in token of gratitude for the recovery of his sight. 

Manetho and Africa nus assign the long reign of sixty-one 
years to this prince. 

.\ 

OSYMANDAS. 

Diodorus describes a famous sepulchral temple, on the 
authority of Hecataeus, which he says was built by this mon- 
arch at Thebes, and which was the most magnificent of all 



124 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the temples in Egypt. His description runs thus : — " Near 
the first sepulchres in the Theban Necropolis, where the pal- 
lacides of Jove are interred, stood the tomb of Osymandas. 
Its entrance was by a porch of variously coloured stone, two 
hundred feet in length, and forty-five in height. Behind this 
was a square portico, each side measuring four hundred feet ; 
and instead of pillars, supported by representations of animals, 
sculptured in the antique fashion, and each sixteen cubits 
high. The ceiling, which was of compact masonry, cover- 
ing' the space between the outer walls and the columns, was 
upwards of twelve feet in breadth, and was ornamented with 
stars studded on an azure ground, like the firmament of hea- 
ven. At the upper end of this portico, was a second court, in 
every respect similar to the first, but enriched with a greater 
variety of sculptures. Close to the entrance, were three sta- 
tues, all of one stone, the workmanship of Memnon of Syene. 
One of these was in a sitting posture, and the largest in all 
Egypt, its foot alone exceeding seven cubits in length. The 
other two were inferior in size, reaching only to its knees. 
These were attached in an upright position to the front of the 
throne, one on the right, the other on the left side, and they 
represented the daughter and mother of the king. This piece 
was not more admirable for the exquisite art of the carver, 
than for the dimensions and beauty of the stone, which was 
free from the least flaw or blemish. Upon it was this proud 
inscription : — 

"l AM OSYMANDAS, KING OF KINGS: IF ANY ONE WISHES TO 
KNOW WHAT A PRINCE I AM, AND WHERE I LIE, LET HIM EX- 
CEL MY EXPLOITS. 

" Near this was a statue of his mother, twenty cubits in 
height, and cut out of one stone. She had three crowns on 
her head, purporting that she was the daughter, wife, and 
mother of a king. The court led to a second portico, far ex- 
ceeding the first. On the wall of this, the king was repre- 
sented waging a war in the country of the Bactrians, who 
had revolted from him, and against whom he led an army of 
400,000 men, and 20,000 horse, in four divisions, each com- 
manded by one of his sons. On the first Avail, the king was 
seen besieging a fortress surrounded by a river, and contend- 
ing in the foremost ranks with the enemy, accompanied by a 
lion, from whence some authors conclude, that he always 
fought with a tame lion at his side, and others, that the figure 
vvas emblematical of his courage. On the second wall, cap- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 125 

tives were conducted without hands, and with other signs, 
purporting them to be men destitute of courage. On the 
third, were a great variety of sculptures and paintings, indi- 
cating the sacrifices and t^umph of the king. In the middle 
of this court was an altar of very beautiful stone, admirable 
for its size and its workmanship. On the fourth side were 
two sitting statues, of a single block each, measuring twenty- 
seven cubits in height. Near these courts were three pas- 
sages, supported throughout by columns, and built in the 
manner of a theatre ; these passages were 200 feet square. 
In this place were many wooden statues, representing per- 
sons engaged in law-suits, and the judges hearing the causes 
These last, thirty in number, were carved on one side, with 
their president in the centre, at whose neck hung an image 
of Truth, with his eyes closed, and who was surrounded with 
many books. This signified that the duty of a judge was, to 
receive no bribe, and that he should only regard truth and 
equity. After this was a corridor, filled with numerous 
chambers, in which all kinds of viands most agreeable to the 
palate Avere introduced. Here the king was most curiously 
wrought, and painted in the most elegant colours. He was 
represented as presenting to the deity the gold and silver he 
annually received from the mines throughout Egypt, the 
amount whereof was 3,200 myriads of minae, or 96,000,000/. 
sterling. To these chambers, the sacred library succeeded, 
over which was inscribed, ' The balsam of the soul !' Con- 
tiguous to the library, were the images of all the Egyptian 
gods, to each of whom the monarch presented a suitable 
oflfering, in order that Osiris, and the rest of the deities placed 
beneath him, might know that he had passed his life with 
piety towards the gods, and with justice towards men. Ad- 
jacent to this library, was an edifice of remarkable architec- 
ture, elegantly fitted up with twenty couches, where the • 
statutes of Jupiter, Juno, and the king were placed, who was 
thought to be her.e entombed. Around this were several 
pavilions, in which were hung beautiful paintings of all the 
sacred animals of the country. From hence was the ascent 
to the sepulchre. Beyond this, and immediately over the 
sepulchre, was a golden planisphere, which was carried away 
by Cambyses, when the Persians invaded Egypt. This 
planisphere measured 365 cubits in circumference, and one 
in thickness ; and it was divided and marked at every cubit 
with the days of the year, the rising and setting of the stars 

11* 



126 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

according- to the natural revolutions, and the signs ascertained 
from them by Egyptian astrologers." 

Diodorus does not fix the exact epoch at which Osymandas 
reigned in Egypt. This is a matter of great uncertainty, and 
scarcely two writers agree upon the subject. Mr. Wilkinson 
infers the identity of Osymandas and Ismandes and Mendes, 
and says, that in his reign the Bactrians, who had been sub- 
dued by Sesostris, rebelled, and threw off their allegiance to 
the Egyptians ; thus placing Osymandas after Sesostris. Dr. 
Hales, on the contrary, identifies Osymandas with Sesostris, 
affirming that the particulars of the above description ac- 
curately correspond to Sesostris, and to no other king before or 
after. There are others, again, who, perhaps with more rea- 
son, conjecture that the name which Diodorus thus wrote, 
was that of the monarch whom Manetho calls S ethos Rameses, 
or Rameses n., who was the father of Sesostris. The tomb 
of this monarch was discovered by Belzoni, and it is certain 
that he was a great warrior, as Diodorus relates. His ex- 
ploits are recorded in the palace of Karnac, and the Memno- 
nium. 

The reign of Rameses ii. was conspicuous as the Augustan 
era of Egypt, when the arts attained a degree of perfection 
which no after age excelled, and the arms of Egypt were ex- 
tended considerably farther into the heart of Asia than during 
the most successful invasions of his predecessors. In the 
fourth year of his reign, he had already waged a successful 
war against several distant nations. His march lay along the 
coast of Palestine, and the record of that event is still pre- 
served on the rocks of the Lycus, near Beiroot, where his 
name and figure present the singular circumstance of a Pha- 
raonic monument without the confines of Egypt. That the 
Egyptians extended their dominions far beyond the valley of 
the Nile, is proved by the monuments and the sacred writings. 
Some of their northern possessions were retained until Ne- 
buchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took from Pharaoh-nechoh 
all that belonged to him, " from the river of Egypt unto the 
river Euphrates," 2 ICings xxiv. 7. M. Champollion sup- 
poses that the people over whom Rameses ii. triumphed, were 
the Scythians, and the hieroglyphics admit of such a reading. 
The dress, appearance, as well as the name of his enemies, 
shows them to have been inhabitants of Central Asia. These 
hieroglyphics indicate that they were skilful in the art of war, 
and that they possessed strong towns, and a country traversed 
by a large river. Their mode of fortifying their to-\vns, the 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 127 

double fosses that surrounded their walls, their bridges over 
them, and their mode of drawing up the phalanxes of infantry, 
suggest a considerable progress in civihzation and the art of 
Avar. Their oifensive and defensive arms consisted of spears 
and swords, helmets, shields, and coats of mail. They pos- 
sessed two-horsed chariots, which contained each three men, 
thus forming a well constituted and powerful body of troops. 
Some fought on horses, which they guided by a bridle, with- 
out saddle ; but the far greater part fought iri cars, all of 
which is indicative of an Asiatic people. 

PROTEUS. 

Proteus, whose Copic name was Cetes, which Suidas says, 
signified a manifold sea monster, sometimes a lion, a panther, 
a toad, a whale, etc., very difficult to be overcome, was a 
Memphite. 

It was the name of this monarch that gave rise to the 
Grecian fable of Proteus, as described by Homer, (Odyss. iv. 
414 — 460,) and Virgil, (Georg. iv. 388—450.) Diodorus 
explains the fable, (for which we refer the reader to the pages 
of these poets,) as arising from a custom among the Egyptian 
kings of wearing on their heads, as emblems of sovereignty, 
the figures of bulls, lions, and dragons, fire, branches of trees, 
with frankincense, and perfumes, not only to adorn them- 
selves, but to strike awe and terror into the hearts of their 
subjects. 

This explanation, however, is questioned by some, from the 
circumstance of the head dresses of the kings being repre- 
sented in the sculptures, when offering to the gods, both 
numerous and varied in their forms. 

The shrine of Proteus was still visible at Memphis in the 
time of Herodotus. It stood on the south of the temple of 
Vulcan, (the god of the ancients, who presided over fire, and 
who was the patron of all artists v^rho worked in iron and 
metals,) and was magnificently ornamented. The Phenicians 
of Tyre who had settled in Egypt lived in its vicinity when 
Herodotus visited the country, and the whole of the environs 
thence obtained the name of the Tyrian camp. 

There was also in the same spot a small temple dedicated 
to Venus, the stranger, a goddess who was conjectured by 
Herodotus to be the Grecian Helen, who was said to have 
hved some time at the court of Proteus. This author says, 
that the priests of Egypt gave him the subjoined information 



128 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

concerning this heroine : — " Paris, having carried off Helen 
from Sparta, was returning home, when contrary winds 
arising in the ^gean, he was driven into the Egyptian sea. 
The winds continuing unfavourable, he proceeded to Egypt, 
and putting* into the Canopic mouth of the Nile, landed at the 
TarichsBa, or the salt pans, near a temple of Hercules. If, at 
any time, a slave fled for refuge to this shrine, and submitted 
to be marked with certain characters, in testimony of conse- 
crating himself to the service of the deity, no one was per- 
mitted to molest him. The servants of Paris Avere aware of 
this privilege, and fleeing from their master, with a view of 
injuring him, became suppliants to the deity. They revealed 
the secret concerning Helen, and the wrong he had done to 
Menelaus, not only to the priests, but also to Thonis, governor 
of that mouth of the river. 

" Thonis despatched a courier to Proteus at Memphis, with 
this message : ' A Trojan is arrived here, who has committed 
an atrocious crime in Greece. Not only has he seduced the 
wife of his host, but he has carried her away with his trea- 
sures. Contrary winds have brought him hither: shall I 
permit his departure, or seize his person and property?' 
Proteus commanded, that whoever the man was who had 
thus violated the rights of hospitality, he should be brought 
before him. Paris, with Helen, and all his treasures, Avere, 
therefore, sent to Memphis. Proteus inquired who he Avas, 
and from Avhence he came? The delinquent related the 
name of his family and country, and from Avhat place he had 
set sail ; but Avhen he AA'^as questioned concerning Helen, he 
equivocated, and endeaA^oured to conceal the truth, till the 
slaves who had deserted him Avere confronted Avith him, and 
explained all the circumstances of his guilt. Proteus, there- 
fore, pronounced this sentence: 'If I did not consider it a 
great crime to put a stranger to death, Avho has been driven 
on my coast by contrary Avinds, I Avould, thou AA^orst of men, 
avenge the Greek Avhose hospitality thou hast abused in so 
treacherous a manner. Thou hast seduced his AAdfe, and, not 
contented Avith this, thou hast stolen her aAvay, and still de- 
tainest her ; and to complete the crime, thou hast robbed his 
house. But, as I consider it not right to put a stranger to 
death, I suffer thee to depart. This Avoman, hoAvever, and 
AA^ealth thou hast brought, I forbid thee to take. These shall 
remain with me till the Greek demands them in person. In 
three days leave the coasts of Eg\'pt Avith thy companions, or 
exoect death.' 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 129 

" Helen was detained by Proteus till the arrival of Mene- 
laus, who finding, when Troy was taken, that Helen was in 
Egypt, repaired to the court of the Egyptian monarch. On 
his arrival, he related the object of his journey. He was re- 
ceived with the rites of hospitality, and Helen who had been 
treated respectfully, was restored to him, with all his treasures. 
He then returned to the coast, intending to return to Greece 
immediately ; but the winds were contrary ; and Menelaus, 
unmindful of the favours he had received, clandestinely seized 
two children, and offered them as a sacrifice. This was no 
sooner made public, than the Egyptians resolved to punish 
the perpetrator of this gross outrage. But, as he fled by sea 
into Africa, they were unable to overtake him, and Mene- 
laus thereby escaped their indignation, and the punishment 
he deserved." Thus history demolishes much of the Homeric 
fable. 

Proteus is said to have founded the city of Memphis, the 
metropolis of Lower Egypt.* He reigned about fifty years, 
during which time, the country is supposed to have enjoyed 
peace and prosperity. He is the last of the Egyptian mon- 
archs whose history is connected with that of the heroic age. 

RHAMPSINITUS. 

This monarch is not distinguished for the extent of his 
conquests ; but he surpassed all his predecessors in wealth, 
and in his fondness for riches. Diodorus says, that he was 
so avaricious, that he would not employ any of the treasures 
he had amassed, either for the service of the gods, or the 
benefit of his subjects. The monuments, however, which he 
erected at Memphis, disprove this statement, and claim for 
him a place among the patrons of his religion, and the en- 
couragers of art. According to Herodotus, he added the 
western vestibule to the temple of Vulcan, and adorned it with 
two colossal statues, twenty-five cubits high. The same 
author relates a romantic tale concerning an artful and daring 
robbery committed on his treasury, and of the singular expe- 
dient which he employed to discover the robber ; but the de- 
tails deserve no mention in these pages. 

Rhampsinitus is supposed to have been the patron of the 

* The reader will observe, that the founding of Memphis is ascribed by 
'ancient historians to two different monarchs of different ages, namely, to 
Menes and Proteus. It is probable that Menes founded it, and that it was 
enlarged by Proteus. 



130 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Eleusinian mysteries, which were first instituted in Egypt, 
and which Avere designed to maintain the immortahty of the 
soul and a future judgment after death^bythe infernal deities 
Ceres and Bacchus. This supposition is founded on another 
romantic tale, which states that Rhampsinitus descended into 
the infernal regions, and played at dice with the goddess 
Ceres, and alternately won and lost. The Eleusinian mys- 
teries, which were an allegory kept secret from the multitude 
in all ages, and of which nothing is known, passed from 
Egypt into Greece. Why they were kept secret, we are told 
by Synesius. " The ignorance of the mysteries," he says, 
" preserves their veneration : for which reason they are en- 
trusted only to the cover of the night." Clemens Alexan- 
drinus, also, says, that the veil or mist through which things 
are only permitted to be seen renders the truths contained 
under it more venerable and majestic. The learned Varro, 
moreover, in a fragment of his book, "Of Religions," pre- 
served by St. Augustin, relates, that there were many truths 
which it was inconvenient for the state to be generally known ; 
and many* things which, though false, it was expedieat the 
people should believe ; and that, therefore, the Greeks shut 
up their mysteries in the silence of their sacred enclosures. 

How different from all this is the promulgation of the 
doctrines of the Bible among mankind. By a stated ministry, 
charged to declare the whole counsel of Grod, we are taught 
the precious truths contained therein ; and, if the meaning of 
any passage appears hidden from sight, we are encouraged 
to ask of God, and he, by his Holy Spirit, will guide us " into 
aU truth." Truly these are proofs of the Divine origin and 
authority of the Holy Scriptures. 

Till the reign of Rhampsinitus, Egjrpt was remarkable for 
its excellent laws, its strict justice, and moderation ; but, ac- 
cording to Herodotus, in the two next reigns, oppression and 
cruelty usurped their place. 

CHEOPS. 

On the authority of the Egyptian priests, it is stated by 
Herodotus, that this prince was the builder of the first pyramid, 
and that he shut up the temples, and prohibited the national 
sacrifices. This it is not probable a native king would either 
desire or dare to do ; and, therefore, the report may have been 
made, as is supposed by some, to conceal the disgrace of their 
former slavery and oppression under the sliepherd kings, and 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 131 

to enliance the power and grandeur of their native kings. It 
would appear, however, that Cheops disregarded justice, and 
bare an iron rule compared with his predecessors. 

According to Dr. Hales, Cheops was the father of that prin- 
cess of Egypt whom Solomon, king of Israel, married. See 
I Kings iii. 1. If such was the case, Cheops was a warlike 
prince ; for it is recorded of him in the sacred writings, under 
the name of Pharaoh, that he took Gezer, and burned it with 
fire, and slew the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and gave 
it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife, 1 Kings ix. 
16. It is not recorded how the king of Egypt came to be 
engaged in this undertaking : perhaps he had a quarrel of his 
own with the inhabitants of Gezer ; or, his son-in-law, Solomon, 
who did not himself engage in any military undertaking, 
might have requested him to render him this service. By 
this king, also, Solomon was supplied with horses, chariots, 
etc., out of Egypt, 1 Kings x. 28, 29. 

But it must not be forgotten, that the placing of Cheops, by 
Herodotus and chronologers, after the Trojan war, is consi- 
dered by some to be a gross anachronism. Manetho places 
him among the earliest of the Pharaohs, under the name of 
Suphis, and the monuments would seem to testify that he is 
correct. Be this as it may, Cheops, it would appear, reigned 
fifty years, and was succeeded by 

CEPHRENES, 

his brother, who, by the same ancient writer, Herodotus, and 
on the same authority, the priests, is said to have built the se- 
cond pyramid, and to have adopted the policy of his predeces- 
sor. Of this pyramid, Herodotus remarks, that this had no 
subterraneous chambers, nor any channel for the admission 
of the Nile, like the former, near which it stood ; from which 
it would appear that the first was a water temple. 

Most writers of ancient history, as stated in the article Se- 
sostris, have identified that restless conqueror Avith the Sesac 
or Shishak* of Scripture ; but Dr. Russel, in the third volume 
of his " Connexion," and Dr. Hales, in his " Analysis of Chro- 
nology," have shown that Sesostris lived anterior to this event. 
The latter writer, who identifies Cephrenes with Shishak, 

* The work Shishak means a hard drinker, and is equivalent to his 
other title, Bacchus, a bottle companion ; titles which were considered 
Dy the ancients as very honourable. To be able to drink more wine than 
other men, was considered by thern as part, of the character of a heroj 



132 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

says, " The reign of Cephrenes, so late as b.c. 1032, is cor- 
rected from a rectification of Syncellus's Catalogue, explained 
before. This date, combined with his long reign of fifty-six 
years, according to Herodotus, intimates, that he could be no 
other than the Sesac, or Shishak of Scripture, now, for the 
first time, determined in the present system of chronology, 
after having been so long misunderstood, from the days of 
Josephus to those of Marsham and Newton." 

One circumstance, namely, that Herodotus did not identify 
Sesostris with Shishak, is greatly in favour of this conclusion ; 
but there is a great degree of uncertainty in the identification 
of Cephrenes with Shishak, inasmuch as Manetho places him, 
like Cheops, among the earliest of the Pharaohs. Without, 
therefore, identifying Shishak Avith either Sesostris or Cephre- 
nes, here may be presented to the reader what is found in 
the sacred page concerning that monarch, under his scripture 
name of 



It is said, 2 Chron. xii. 2 — 12, " And it came to pass, that 
in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt 
came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed 
ao-ainst the Lord, with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore 
thousand horsemen : and the people were without number 
that came with him out of Egypt ; the Lubims," (probably the 
Libyans,) " the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took 
the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jeru- 
salem. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and 
to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together at Jeru- 
salem because of Shishak, and said unto them. Thus saith the 
Lord, Ye have forsaken me. and therefore have I also left 
you in the hands of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of 
Israel and the king humbled themselves ; and they said. The 
Lord is righteous. And when the Lord saw that they hum- 
bled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, say- 
ing, They have humbled themselves ; therefore 1 will not 
destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance ; and my 
wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of 
Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants ; that they 
may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the 
countries. So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jeru- 
salem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, 
and tbp treasures of the kinr^'s housp • he took all : he carried 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 133 

away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. In- 
stead of which king Rehoboam made sliields of brass, and 
committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that 
kept the entrance of the king's house. And when the king 
entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetch- 
ed them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. 
And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned 
from him, that he would not destroy him altogether : and also 
in Judah things went well." See also 1 Kings xiv. 25 — 28. 

It is thought by some, that the invasion of Judah by Shi- 
shak was at the instigation of Jeroboam, who had previously 
resided at the Egyptian monarch's court, and had married his 
daughter. It is probable, that this first king of Israel was im- 
mediately connected with the transaction ; for the ten tribes 
over whom he reigned were in alliance with Shishak, and, at 
this date, in determined hostility towards the tribes of Judah 
and Benjamin, as appears from 1 Kings xii. The interest and 
security, therefore, of Jeroboam, seemed to require that the 
king of Judah, his rival, should be humbled by a foreign and 
superior power. The chastisement, however, as intimated 
by the sacred writer, came from the hands, of the Almighty ; 
and the narrative shows how jealous the Lord is of his own 
honour ; how merciful he is to the repentant, and how kind in 
warning the creatures of Ms hands against straying from his 
fold. His design was, to restore Judah from the error of 
their ways ; that effected, his anger ceased, and the Egyptians 
returned to their own land. 

It may be mentioned, that the Shishak of Scripture is iden- 
tified by Champollion and others with Sesonchis, according to 
Manetho, and Sheshonk, according to the Phonetic signs. 
The latter name, with the title, confirmed by Ammon, appears 
on one of the columns of the first grand peristyle in the pal- 
ace of Karnac. Among the sculptured ornaments of this 
palace, the personage thus named is represented as dragging 
to the feet of his gods the chiefs of thirty conquered -nations j 
and it is remarkable, that there is one whose distinguishing 
hieroglyphic inscription is equivalent in Phonetic value to 
Jouda~ha-melek^ meaning the king of the Jews, or of Judah. 
The names of the kingdom of Judah, and of several towns on 
the Egyptian frontier of Judah, Megiddo, Beth-horon, etc., oc- 
cur in the list of his conquests. It may be inferred, therefore, 
that the triumphant scene commemorates, among many others, 
that recorded in the sacred Avritings, and as such it is highly 
interesting. 

VOL. T. 12 



134 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 



MYCERINUS. 



This monarch is represented as the son of Cheops, and, 
therefore, advanced in years when he ascended the throne.' 
Mycerinus was reckoned the builder of the third pyramid, 
which is represented by Herodotus as superior to the others 
in costliness of materials and excellence of workmanship, 
though inferior in size. But this structure could not possibly 
have been built within so short a period, which is a proof of 
the fallacy of the statements made by the priests of Egypt con- 
cerning the pyramids, and the monarchs during this period. 
Of Mycerinus they have reported that his character was the 
reverse of that of his father. So far from walking in his 
steps, he detested his conduct, and pursued opposite measures. 
He again opened the temples of the gods, restored the sacri- 
fices, and did all that lay in his power to comfort his subjects, 
and make them forget their past miseries. He believed him- 
self set over them for no other purpose but to exercise justice, 
and to administer to them the blessings of an equitable and 
peaceful administration. He heard their complaints, dried 
their tears, alleviated their misery, and considered himself the 
father of his people. This conduct procured for him the love 
and esteem of all his subjects ; Egypt, it is said, resounded 
with his praises, and his name commanded veneration in dis- 
tant lands. 

This prudent and humane conduct did not exempt Myce- 
rinus from calamity. Herodotus says, that his misfortunes 
commenced with the death of a beloved and only daughter, in 
whom his chief felicity consisted. He ordered extraordinary 
honours to be paid to her memory, which Avere continued in 
this historian's days ; for he states, that in the city of Sais, ex- 
quisite odours were burned in the day time at the tomb of the 
princess, and that during the night a lamp was kept constantly 
burning. Her body is said to have been enclosed in a heifer, 
made of wood, and richly ornamented with gold. 

After this, Mycerinus met with another calamity. He was 
informed by the oracle of Buto that his reign would continue 
but seven years, and upon complaining of this to the gods, and 
inquiring the reason why so long and prosperous a reign had 
been granted both to his uncle and father, who were equally 
cruel and impious, w^hilst his own, which he had endeavoured 
to render equitable and mild, should be so short and unhappy ? 
he was answered, that these were the causes of it ; it being the 
will of the gods to afflict Egypt during the space of one hun- 



HISTORY OP THE EGYPTIANS. 135 

dred and fifty years, as a punishment for its crimes ; and that 
his reign, which was to have been, like those of the preceding 
monarchs, of fifty years' continuance, was shortened on ac- 
count of his overmuch lenity. But all this bears upon the 
face of it the stamp of fiction ; for Mycerinus being an aged 
man when he ascended the throne of Egypt, it could not be 
supposed, that, in the common course of nature, he should 
reign as long as Cheops or Cephrenes. It is probable that 
Mycerinus reigned about ten years. 

The immediate successor of Mycerinus is uncertain. He- 
rodotus asserts it was Asychis, who appears to have been a 
Memphite. Diodorus, however, introduces the names of 
Tnephachthus, or, as Plutarch calls him, Technatis, and his 
son Bocchoris, both of whom are omitted by Herodotus, as 
Asychis and Anysis are in his catalogue of kings. 

TNEPHACHTHUS. 

This prince is only known as being the father of Boccho- 
ris, and as having led an expedition into Arabia, where he 
endured great privations, owing to the loss of his baggage in 
this inhospitable country. Being obliged to put up with poor 
and slender diet, and finding his sleep in consequence more 
sound and refreshing, he felt persuaded of the ill effect re- 
sulting from luxury, and was resolved on his return to 
Thebes to record his abhorrence of the conduct of Menes, 
who had induced the Egyptians to abandon their frugal and 
simple habits. Accordingly, he erected a stela, with an in- 
scription to that purpose, in the temple of Amun at Thebes, 
where his son also made considerable additions to the sacred 
buildings dedicated to the deity. This stela, or tablet, cannot 
now be discovered in any of the ruins of Thebes, and the 
truth of this statement may, therefore, perhaps, be questioned. 

ccHopas. 

This prince is the Bakhor or Pehor of the Phonetic signs, 
who reigned about 312 b. c. He is represented to have 
been despicable in his person, but the qualities of his mind 
fully compensated for any imperfections of the body ; for ac- 
cording to Diodorus, he excelled all his predecessors in wis- 
dom or prudence, whence he obtained the surname of "the 
wise." 

It is supposed by some that Bocchoris is mentioned by 



136 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Herodotus under the name of Asychis, of which monarch, that 
historian relates, that he enacted the law relative to loans, 
which forbade a son to borrow money, without giving the 
dead body of his father by way of security, as explained page 
28. Herodotus states, also, that Asychis prided himself" in 
having surpassed all his predecessors, by the building of a 
pyramid of brick, more magnificent than any hitherto erected, 
with this inscription engraved on a marble slab : " Compare 
me not with the stone pyramids, for I am as superior to them 
as Jove is to the other gods. Thus was I made : men prob- 
ing with poles the bottom of a lake drew forth the mud 
which adhered to them, and formed it into bricks." 

Bocchoris is reputed to have been one of the Egyptian law- 
givers, and in this capacity to have introduced many useful 
regulations in the ancient code respecting debt and fiscal mat- 
ters ; but some have imagined that his care of the revenue 
proceeded from avarice, rather than from a desire to benefit 
the state. So high, says Plutarch, was the veneration his 
subjects paid him, that they fabled Isis to have sent an asp to 
deprive him of his sight, that he might judge righteously. 

Diodorus places a long period between his reign and that 
of Sabacos the Ethiopian, who, however, follows him next 
but one in the Phonetic chronology and in that of Manetho, 
which is most likely to be correct in this particular. The 
monarch who intervened between Bocchoris and Sabaco, 
was, according to Dr. Hales and other chronologers, 



who, Herodotus says, was blind ; and who had only reigned 
two years when Sabacos invaded Egypt, and drove him into 
the fens. It is agreed on all hands that the Sabacos of Hero- 
dotus was the So of Scripture, whose aid was implored by 
Hoshea king of Israel, against Shalmaneser king of Assyria, 
about 726 years b. c. Sabacos ruled in Egypt with great 
justice and moderation about fifty years : he resigned the 
throne in obedience to an oracle, and returned to Abyssinia. 
Dr. Hales conjectures that the true cause of his leaving 
E^ypt was the apprehension of an Ass^n-ian war, which it is 
probable he had in the first instance sought to avert, by prompt 
ing Hoshea to rebel against Shalmaneser. It is said that Sa- 
bacos built several magnificent temple.s, and among the rest, 
one in the city of Bubastis, of which a copious and elegant 
description is given by Herodotus, After Sabacos had re- 



raSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 137 

tired, Anysis reascended the throne of Egypt, and reigned 
till his death, which occurred at the lapse of six years, or 
about 719 B. c. 

SETHON, OR SEBECON. 

Sethon was a pontifical king, and his accession is fixed at 
E. c. 713, by the character of Sennacherib's invasion, as nar- 
rated by Herodotus. He says : " At this time there reigned 
in Egypt a priest of Vulcan, named Sethon, who neglected 
and contemned the military establishment which had been 
formed in Egypt, and among other dishonours which he put 
upon the soldier caste, he withdrew the allotment of twelve 
acres of land, which, under former kings, had been allowed 
as the portion of every soldier. After this, when Senna- 
cherib invaded Egypt with a great army, not one of the mili- 
tary class would come forward to his assistance. The royal 
priest, in this exigency, seeing no help before him, withdrew 
to a temple, where, standing before the image, he deplored 
bitterly the evils with which his kingdom was threatened. As 
he wept, sleep overpowered him, and he saw in a vision the 
god standing by, who, bidding him be of good cheer, assured 
him that no harm should befall him if he marched out 
against the Assyrians ; for he would himself send him as- 
sistance. Sethon took courage from this vision, and collect- 
ing a body of men, none of whom were soldiers, he marched 
out and formed his camp at Pelusium. The night after his 
arrival, myriads of field-mice infested the camp of the ene- 
my, gnawing in pieces their quivers, their bow-strings, and 
the straps of their shields ; so that in the morning, finding 
themselves deprived of the use of their arms, they fled in 
great disorder, and many of them were slain. In order to 
commemorate this event, a marble statue of Sethos was 
erected in the temple of Pthah, at Memphis representing the 
king holding a rat in his hand, with this inscription : ' Who- 
ever thou art, learn from my fortune to reverence the gods." ' 

This, observes a learned writer, is evidently nothing more 
than an adaptation to Egypt, its king, and its gods, of what be- 
longed to Judah, to Hezekiah, and to the power of Jehovah. " 
It is, indeed, a parody of the miraculous destruction of the 
Assyrian army before Jerusalem, in the reign of Hezekiah, 
by the pestilential blast, as foretold by Isaiah, and the particu- 
lars of which are narrated, 2 Kings xix.. and Isaiah xxxvii. 
It is there recorded, that the king of Assyria, having subdued 



138 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

all the neighbouring- nations, and made himself master of all 
the other cities of Judah, resolved to besiege Hezekiah in 
Jerusalem. The ministers of this good monarch, in opposi- 
tion to his will, and the remonstrances of the prophet Isaiah, 
who promised them, in the name of Jehovah, sure protection, 
if they would trust in him only, sent secretly to the Egyptians 
and Ethiopians for succour. Their armies, being united, 
marched to the relief of Jerusalem ; but they were met and 
vanquished by the Assyrians, who pursued them into Egypt, 
and laid waste their country. At their return from thence, 
on the very night before a general assault was to have been 
made upon Jerusalem, as the army of Sennacherib were rest- 
ing in their tents, 

A mighty angel from the eternal God 
Breathed death upon the slumbering host, and sent 
The impious monarch, overwhelmed with shame, 
Back to his native land and idle gods. 

. One hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians 
perished, and Sennacherib, confounded and disgraced, re- 
turned to his own land, where he perished by the hands of 
his own sons, " in the house of Nisroch his god." 

These are the facts connected with the transaction ; but 
through contempt of the Jews, says Dr. Hales, who were then 
a depressed people, and whose name Herodotus has not once 
deigned to notice in the course of his history, he has trans- 
ferred the miracle in favour of the Egyptians, whom he ad- 
mired ; or else simply recorded the tradition of the priests, 
thus authenticating, while they per verted the original miracle. 

The prophet Isaiah, on several occasions, had foretold that 
this expedition of the Egyptians, which had been concerted 
with such prudence, conducted with such skiU, and in which 
the forces of two powerful empires were united in order to 
relieve the Jews, would not only be of no avail to them, but 
even destructive to Egypt itself, whose strongest cities would 
be taken, its territories plundered, and its inhabitants of all 
ages and both sexes led into captivity. See Isa. xviii., xix., 
XX., xxxi., xxxii., etc. By some writers it is conjectured that 
the splendour of Thebes received its first blow at this period : 
the prophet Nahum mentions, indeed, that such an event oc- 
curred when " Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength," Nah, 
iii. 9, which indicates that it was at this period. The mon- 
arch of Ethiopia, Avho joined his forces with those of Sethon, 
as intimated in the sacred writings, Avas Tirhakah, who was 



HTSTOE.Y OF THe' EGYPTIANS. 139 

one of the successors of Sabacos, and who is supposed by 
some authors to have held Upper Egypt.* But this does not 
appear to be fully proved ; for, at the death of Sethon, great 
confusion or anarchy took place, which continued two years, 
after which time, about e. c. 673, the Egyptians elected 

TWELVE KINGS, 

one for every nome or district. The turbulence that attended 
this change of government, from a monarchy to an oligarchy, 
seems to have been foretold by the prophet Isaiah. Speaking 
in the name of Jehovah, he says, Isa. xix. 2, 

"And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians : 
And they shall fight every one against his brother, 
And every one against his neighbour ; 
City against city, 
And kingdom against kingdom." 

Herodotus says, it was agreed by these twelve kings, that 
each should govern his own district with equal power and 
authority, and that no one should invade the dominions of 
another. To this end they bound themselves with the most 
solemn oaths, to elude the prediction of an oracle which had 
foretold that the oligarchy would be dissolved by that one 
among them who should offer his libation to Vulcan out of a 
brazen vessel. But accident brought to pass that which they 
sought to avoid. One day, as the twelve kings were offering 
solem sacrifices to Vulcan, the priests having presented 
eleven of them with a golden bowl for the libation, found that 
one was wanting ; upon which, Psammiticus, one of the 
twelve, without any design on his part, supplied the want of 
this golden bowl with his brazen helmet, and with it per- 
formed the ceremony of the libation. This accident alarmed 
the rest of the kings, by recalling to their memory the predic- 
tion of the oracle, and they thought it necessary to secure 

* Mr. Wilkinson says on this subject, " that Tirhakah ruled at Napata 
and in Thebaid at the same period, is sufficiently proved by the additions 
he made to the temple of Thebes, and by the monuments he built in 
Ethiopia ; nor did the Egyptians efface his records, or forget the gratitude 
they owed to the defender of their country. The name of Nectanebo has, 
indeed, usurped the place of Tirhakah's ovals in one or two instances 
among the sculptures at Thebes, but such substitutions are not uncom- 
mon, and the name of the Ethiopian has not been erased from any ill-will, 
so often evinced when an obnoxious monarch had ceased to reign." This 
is the strongest evidence we have on the subject, and it is rather pre- 
sumptive than conclusive. 



140 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

themselves from his attempts, which they did, by banishing 
him into the fenny parts of Egypt. After his expulsion to 
the fens, he consulted the oracle of Latona, at Butos, how to 
be revenged on his associates. He was answered, that " his 
revenge should corne, when brazen men should appear from 
the sea ;" and not long after, he heard with astonishment, 
that the country was pillaged by " brazen men coming from 
the sea !" These were a set of Ionian and Carian pirates, 
Avho were covered with helmets, cuirasses, and other arms of 
brass, and whom Psammiticus hired to assist him in dethron- 
ing his associates. This they did effectuallj^, and made him 
sole sovereign of Egypt, and in reward of their services 
he settled them near Bubastis, at the Pelusian mouth of the 
Nile, whence they were transplanted afterwards by Amasis 
to Memphis. 

This is derived from Herodotus : the version Avhich Dio- 
dorus gives is more consistent with probability. It runs 
thus : — As Psammiticus, whose sway extended to the Mediter- 
ranean, had availed himself of the opportunities offered by the 
sea-ports within his province of establishing commercial inter- 
course Avith the Phenicians and Greeks, and had amassed 
considerable wealth by these means, his colleagues, jealous 
of his increasing power, and fearing that he would eventual- 
ly employ it against them, resolved to prevent such an occur- 
rence, and to dispossess him of his province. They, there- 
fore, prepared to attack him, and by this step obliged Psam- 
miticus to adopt measures which his ambition might not have 
contemplated. Apprised of their resolutions, and f: nding him- 
self threatened by the formidable army of all the upper pro- 
vinces, he sent to Arabia, Caria, and Ionia ; and, having suc- 
ceeded in raising a considerable body of mercenaries, he was 
soon able to oppose them ; and putting himself at the head of 
these and his native troops, he gave them battle at Meiiiphis, 
routed their combined forces, and obliging those of the 
princes who had escaped the slaughter to flee to Libya, be- 
came possessed of an undivided throne. 

The twelve kings reigned in Egypt fifteen years ; and to 
them is attributed the building of the labyrinth near the Lake 
Mosris. Of this wonderful structure, Herodotus says, that it 
had twelve courts, fifteen hundred chambers above, and as 
many more under ground, with an infinite variety of halls, 
passages, and mazes ; and that the roof and walls were all 
incrusted with sculptured marble, and surrounded with pillars 
of white and polished stone. In the lower apartments he was 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 141 

informed, were the tombs, both, of the kings who originally 
built the labyrinth, and of the sacred crocodiles. The upper 
apartments which he examined, excited his admiration, as the 
greatest efforts of human art and industry ; surpassing in 
workmanship and expense the far famed pyramids, and th-e 
most admired temples of Ephesus and Samos. 

But from this representation it is questioned whether the 
labyrinth could have been constructed during the short space 
of fifteen years. It is probable, indeed, that several succes- 
sions of kings were employed in this prodigious work, and 
that it was constructed by the shepherd dynasty, who were 
idolators, and worshipped the Nile in their pyramids, and 
very likely the crocodile. Pliny reckons, that the labyrinth 
was built 3,600 years before his time. This date is too re- 
mote, for it would then have been erected before the deluge. 
His assertion, however, tends to prove that he considered the 
work to have been of the remotest antiquity. 

PSAMMITICUS. 

From the time of the Grecian colony first settled in Egypt, 
by Psammiticus, and their constant intercourse with Greece, 
we know with certainty, says Herodotus, all that has passed 
in that country. The Egyptian annals, indeed from the 
reign of this prince, about 658 years b. c, assume a regular 
and settled form in the succession of kings. The clearer 
knowledge of Egyptian history from this date is chiefly 
owing to a fact which Herodotus records of Psammiticus. 
He states that, having settled the lonians and Carians in 
Egypt, he sent among them the Egyptian youths to be. in- 
structed in the Greek language ; from whence sprung the 
state interpreters of that tongue. The youths chosen for in- 
terpreters were without question, those of the priesthood, 
since to that order all letters and learning were restricted, and 
they had likewise a great share in the public administration. 
The priesthood, therefore, having the Greek tongue amongst 
them, which its use in public affairs would cause them to 
cultivate diligently, it is no wonder that some of these inter- 
preters should afterwards employ themselves in translating 
the Egyptian records into the Grecian language ; from 
whence the present knowledge of them is derived. 

As soon as Psammiticus was settled on the throne of Egypt, 
he engaged in war against the king of Assyria, on the sub- 
ject of the boundaries of the two empires. This war was of 



142 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

long duration. Ever since Syria had been conquered by the 
Assyrians, Palestine, being the only country that separated 
the two kingdoms, was the subject of constant discord ; as it 
was afterwards between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidce. 
They were ever contending for it, and it was alternately won 
by the stronger. Psammiticus, seeing himself in the peace- 
able possession of all Egypt, and having restored the ancient 
form of government, as an act of policy looked to his frontiers 
to secure them against the aggressions of the Assyrians, 
whose power increased daily. He therefore entered Pales- 
tine at the head of a powerful army, and advanced as far as 
Azotus victoriously.* But his career was here stopped. 
Azotus was at that time one of the principal cities of Pales- 
tine, and the Egyptians having seized it some time before, 
had fortified it with such care, that it was strongest on the 
side that Psammiticus attacked it, namely, that towards Egypt. 
The consequence was, it cost him the labour of twenty-nine 
years before he could retake it from the hands of the As- 
syrians, into whose possession it had fallen when Sennacherib 
entered Egypt. This is the longest siege mentioned in the 
pages of ancient history. 

During this period, about the twenty-third year of his reign, 
or B. c. 635, the Scythians, who had defeated Cyaxares, 
prince of Media, and deprived him of all Upper Asia, the 
dominion of which they held twenty-eight years, pushed their 
conquests in Syria as far as the frontiers of Egypt, intending 
to invade that country, by way of retaliating the invasion oi 
Scjrthia by Sesostris. Psammiticus, however, marching out 
to meet them, prevailed upon them by presents and entreaties 
to desist from their enterprise, and thus averted the threatened 
blow. 

Till the reign of Psammiticus, the Egyptians had imagined 
that they were the most ancient people upon the earth, and 
that the honour of the origin of language Avas due to them. 

♦ Diodorous says, that Psammiticus having assigned the right wing to 
the Greek troops in this war, and the left to the Egyptians, the latter were 
so indignant at the dishonour put upon them, that they quitted the camp, 
and with other regiments which had remained in Egypt, abandoned his 
service, and, to the number of 240,000 men, retired into Etliiopia. Ac- 
cording to Herodotus, they entered into the service of the Ethiopian 
prince, and their migration, introducing the arts and manners of a refined 
nation, had a very sensible effect in civilizing the Ethiopians. The exact 
position of the country they occupied is unknown. Herodotus places it 
on the Nile ; Strabo near Mcroe ; but Pliny, on the authority of Aristo- 
creon, reckons "seventeen days from Meroc to Esar, a city of the Egyp- 
tians who fled from Psammiticus." 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 143 

Psammiticus was desirous of proving" this claim, and Hero- 
dotus relates a whimsical experiment, which he adopted to 
find out the primeval language. He shut up two new-born 
infants in a solitary cottage, for two years, under the care of 
a shepherd, who was not to suffer any one to speak in their 
hearing, and who was to cause them to be suckled by goats. 
One day, the shepherd, entering the cottage, both the children 
ran to him, holding out their hands, and crying, " Bekhos, 
bekhos !" This they repeated afterwards ; and bekhos being 
found, on inquiry to signify " bread" in the Phrygian dia- 
lect, the Egyptians yielded the palm of antiquity to the Phry- 
gians. But this experiment was by no means conclusive ; 
for the children evidently imitated "bek," stripped of the 
Greek termination, Aos, the bleating of the goats : and Hero- 
dotus himself acknowledges, elsewhere, that the Phrygians 
were a Macedonian colony, originally called Bryges, and 
afterwards Phryges ; their barbarous dialect therefore, could 
be no standard. One obvious and useful result, however, 
from the inconclusive experiment, says Dr. Hales, was, to 
show, that the faculty of speech was considered as innate, or 
" the gift of nature," by the Egyptians, then reckoned the 
wisest and the most argumentative people of antiquity. Far 
wiser, then, were they than some of our modern philosophers, 
who represent the faculty of speech as " a talent acquired 
like all others ;" as an " invention" discovered posterior to 
several others, and after the formation of societies. That 
great moraUst, Dr. Johnson, has well remarked : — Language 
must have come by inspiration : a thousand, nay, a million 
of children could not invent a language : while the organs 
are pliable, there is not understanding enough to form a lan- 
guage ; and by the time there is understanding enough, the 
organs are grown stiff We know that, after a certain age, 
we cannot learn a language. The truth is, language is the 
gift of a beneficent and all-wise Creator, and is given to man 
to make known his wants, his desires, his sorrows, and all the 
multifarious circumstances of human life, as well with his re- 
lation to God as to his fellow-man. It is given, also, that 
man may glorify his Maker, Redeemer and Sanctifier, and 
they who abuse this precious gift will meet with a due re- 
ward ; for it is written, that for " every idle word that men 
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judg- 
ment," Matt. xii. 36. 

Psammiticus died about b. c. 619. He was succeeded ty 



144 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 



NEKUS^ 



who is the Pharoah-nechoh of Scripture, (2 ffings xxiii,) in 
the twentieth year of the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. 
This king is noted for remarkable undertakings. One of the 
principal of these was, to cut a canal from the Nile to the Red 
Sea, a distance of about 1,000 stadia, or about 118 English 
miles. But in this Nekus was obliged to desist, after a great 
number of men had perished in the progress of the undertak- 
ing ; being apprehensive of disastrous consequences from the 
superior elevation of the Red Sea. 

Another great undertaking of this prince was, the circum- 
navigation of Africa. This was the most renowned and 
brilliant circumstance of his reign. After the failure of the 
canal, Nekus employed some skilful Phenician mariners to 
sail on a voyage of discovery, from the mouth of the Red 
Sea, southward, round the peninsular of Africa, in which 
they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and returned by the 
Straits of Gibraltar, through the Mediterranean Sea, com- 
pleting their voyage in three years. Herodotus has recorded 
this fact, and he subjoins that these persons affirmed what to 
him seemed incredible, namely, that as they sailed round 
Africa, they had the sun on their right hand. But this 
statement serves, more than anything else, to authenticate 
their story. It demonstrates, indeed, that they crossed the 
southern tropic of Capricorn, and confirms the truth of their 
narrative. Major Rennel has given an ingenious description 
of their probable route and their several stations, caused by 
the interruption of the trade Avinds, monsoons, and currents, 
on the eastern and western sides of Africa. There has, how- 
ever, been a threefold objection alleged against this historical 
fact : first, a total failure of all the consequences ; secondly, a 
total want of all collateral evidence ; and thirdly, a total 
silence of all other historians, but Herodotus and his fol- 
lowers. To these objections, Dr. Hales makes the following 
satisfactory replies : " 1. The failure of consequences naturally 
resulted from the depressed state of Egypt, during the Baby- 
lonian and Persian dominations ; which took place in, and 
after Pharaoh-nechoh's reign. 2. We have strong collateral 
evidence, in the voyage of Sataspes, which was required by 
Xerxes to be made, in the contrary direction to this, namely, 
along the western coast of Africa, and to return by the eastern 
into the Red Sea. But this voyage failed, and probably pre- 
vented any farther attempts from Egypt. Nor was Herodo- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 145 

tus the only author of antiquity among those whose works 
have come down to us, who believed that Africa had been 
sailed round ; for Pliny believed that it had been achieved by 
Hanno, Eudoxus, and others ; but he is silent concerning- the 
voyage of Necho, while Herodotus is silent about Hanno's 
voyage. Hence it may be suspected, that as this navigation 
was made much about the same time with that of Hanno, 
Pliny may have confounded them together, referring the 
actions of the Egyptian to the Carthaginian.* 3. The testi- 
mony of Herodotus is ably supported by Dean Vincent (the 
author who makes the foregoing objections) himself It must 
be confessed, says he, that the facts Herodotus gives us of this 
voyage, though few, are consistent. The shadow falling to 
the south, the delay of stopping (about three months only) to 
sow grain and reap a harvest, and the space of three years 
employed in the circumnavigation, joined with the simplicity 
of the narrative, are all points so strong and convincing, that 
if they be insisted on by those who believe the possibility of 
effecting the passage by the ancients, no arguments to the 
contrary, however founded upon a different opinion, can leave 
the mind without a doubt upon the question." 

After this, Herodotus observes, the king betook himself to 
military exploits, and it is most interesting to find, that the 
military exploit which he proceeds to mention is no other 
than that very transaction which is recorded in Scripture in 
these words : " After all this, when Josiah had prepared the 
temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Char- 
chemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. 
But he sent ambassadors to him, saying. What have I to do Avith 
thee, thou king of Judah ? I come not against thee this day, 
but against the house wherewith I have war : for God com- 
manded me to make haste : forbear thee from meddling with 
God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. Nevertheless 
Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised him- 
self, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto 
the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to 
fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king 
Josiah ; and the king said to his servants, Have me away ; 

* This opinion of Dr. Hales does not appear to be well grounded ; for 
though he states, that the expeditions were made " much about the same 
time," there was more than 150 years difference. Notwithstanding, Pliny 
may have confounded these expeditions, for we often find, in ancient 
writers, actions recorded at one period, which took place in ages remote 
from that period, 

VOL. I. 13 



146 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 

for 1 am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out 
of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had ; 
and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was 
buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers," 2 Chron. xxxv. 
20—24. 

The Avords of Herodotus are : Necho invading the Syrians, 
overthrew them at Magdolus, and then took Cadytis, a great 
city in Syria. This Cadytis he afterwards mentions as a city 
of the Syrian Palestine, which he conjectured was little infe- 
rior in size to Sardis. That Magdolus is Megiddo, where 
Necho overthrew Josiah, and Cadytis, Jerusalem, is very 
generally agreed. This event may be dated 608 years b. c. 

Nekus, animated by this victory, continued his march, and 
advanced towards the Euphrates. He defeated the Babylo- 
nians ; took Carchemish, a large city in that country, and se- 
curing to himself the possession of it by a strong garrison, 
returned to his own kingdom, after having been absent three 
months. 

Being informed in his march homeward, that Jehoahaz 
had caused himself to be proclaimed king of Jerusalem, with- 
out asking his consent, and considering this neglect as a token 
of hostile feeling, he was highly incensed, and resolved on 
punishing his insolence. With this view, he ordered Jehoa- 
haz to meet him at Riblah, and he had no sooner arrived 
there than Nekus commanded that he should be put in chains, 
and sent down to Egypt, where he died. From thence pur- 
suing his march, Nekus came to Jerusalem, where he placed 
Jehoiakim, another of the sons of Josiah, upon the throne, in 
the room of his brother ; and imposed an annual tribute on 
the land " of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of 
gold," or about 40,435Z. sterling, 2 Kings xxiii. 33 — 35. 
This being done, he returned in triumph to Egypt. 

In the fourth year after this expedition, Nabopolassar, king 
of Babylon, observing that since the taking of Carchemish by 
Nekus, all Syria and Palestine Jiad shaken off their allegiance 
to him, and that his years and infirmities would not permit 
nim to march in person against the rebels, associated his son 
Nebuchadnezzar with him in the empire. This young prince 
(b. c. 604) took a severe revenge upon Nekus. He invaded 
Egypt, and stripped him of all his conquests, from the 
Euphrates to the Nile, so effectually, that the king of Egypt 
went "not again any more out of his land" to invade his 
neighbours. See 2 Kings x.viv. 7. This event \»js foretold 
by the prophet Jeremiah in these emphatic AVords? "The 



HfSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 147 

word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against 
the Gentiles ; against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh- 
necho king of Egypt, which was hy the river Euphrates in 
Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote 
in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of 
Judah," Jer. xlvi. 1,2. So beautifully does prophecy and 
this historical fact harmonize. Nekus died b. o. 603, and 
was succeeded by his son, 

PSAMMIS, 

or Psammitieus n., of whom history records nothing memo- 
rable, except that he made an expedition into Ethiopia. It 
was to this prince that the Eleans sent an embassy, after hav- 
ing instituted the Olympic games. They had established all 
the regulations, and arranged every circumstance relating to 
them with such care, that, in their estimation, nothing was 
required to make them perfect, and envy itself could not find 
fault with them. They did not, however, desire so much to 
have the opinion, as to gain the approbation of the Egyptians, 
who were looked upon as the wisest and most judicious peo- 
ple in the world. On this subject, accordingly, the king of 
Egypt assembled the wise men of his nation. After every 
thing had been heard which could be said in favour of this 
institution, the Eleans were asked, whether citizens and 
foreigners were admitted in common to those games ; to 
Avhich answer was made in the affirmative. To this the 
Egyptians replied, that the rules of justice would have been 
more strictly observed, had foreigners only been admitted to 
these combats ; because it was difficult for the judges, in their 
award of the victory and the prize, not to be prejudiced in fa- 
vour of their fellow-citizens. Psammis died about b. c. 597, 
and was succeeded in his kingdom by 

APBIES, OR PHARAOH-HOPHRA, 

who was his son, and who, during the first twenty-five years 
of his reign enjoyed greater prosperity than any of his pre- 
decessors, except Psammitieus. He defeated the Phenicians, 
took Sidon, and invaded Cyprus, which was finally subdued 
by Amasis, his successor. 

But no state on earth is enduring ; and the wise man has 
observed, that "pride goeth before destruction, a.nd aR 



148 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

haughty spirit before a fall" — ^truths which were exemplified 
in the history of Pharaoh-hophra in a remarkable manner. 

In the pride of his heart, he imagined, says Herodotus, 
that no God could deprive him of the kingdom, so firmly did 
he think himself established. With reference to his haughti- 
ness, the prophet Ezekiel, also, put these words into his 
mouth, " My river is my own, and I have made it for my- 
self," and symbolized him under the figure of the great 
dragon, or crocodile, basking in the midst of his rivers. See 
Ezek. xxix. 3. But in the height of his prosperity and fan-" 
cied security, his doom was pronounced by the prophet Jere- 
miah in these emphatic words : " I will give Pharaoh-hophra 
king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand 
of them that seek his life," Jer. xliv. 30 ; which, prediction 
was verified to the very letter, as will be seen in the course 
of this history. 

Shortly after Apries had ascended the throne, Zedekiah 
king of Judah sent an embassy, Ezek. xvii. 15, and concluded 
an alliance with him. The next year, b. o. 588, rejecting 
the admonitions of Jeremiah, and looking for assistance from 
the king of Egypt, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnez- 
zar king of Babylon, who therefore besieged Jerusalem with 
a numerous force. The Egyptian monarch, elated by the 
success of his arms^ and confident that nothing could resist 
his power, declared himself the protector of Israel, and pro- 
mised to deliver Jerusalem out of the hands of Nebuchadnez- 
zar. This drew upon him the anger of the Almighty, which 
was denounced by the prophet Ezekiel (chap. xxix. 3 — 9) in 
these words : — 

" Thus saith the Lord God ; 

Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, 

The great dragon that lietJi in the midst of his rivers, 

Which hath said. My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 

But I will put hooks in thy jaws, 

And I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, 

And I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, 

And all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. 

And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, 

Thee and all the fish of thy rivers : 

Thou shall fall upon the open fields ; 

Thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered : 

I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field 

And to the fowls of the heaven. 

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, 

Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 

When they took hold of thee by thy hand. 

Thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 149 

And when they leaned upon thee, 

Thou brakest, and madest all theur loins to be at a stand. 

Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; 

Behold I will bring a sword upon thee, 

And cut off man and beast out of thee. 

And the land of Egypt shall be desolate arid waste ; 

And they shall know that I am the Lord : 

Because he hath said. The river is mine, and I have made it" 

The prophet continues his prediction of the calamities, in this 
and the three succeeding chapters, some of the most striking 
passages of which will be noticed hereafter. 

Zedekiah, though well acquainted with these predictions, 
but lightly regarded them, and when he saw the king of 
Babylon raise the siege of- Jerusalem, which he did on the 
approach of the Egyptian army, he fancied that his deliver- 
ance was completed, and anticipated a triumph. But his joy 
was momentary ; the Egyptians seeing the Chaldeans advan- 
cing, retreated, not daring to encounter so numerous arid 
well-disciplined an army. They marched back into their 
own country, and left Zedekiah exposed to all the dangers 
of a war in which they themselves had involved him ; thus 
proving a " staiF of reed to the house of Israel," in the full 
sense of the term. Nebuchadnezzar marched back again to 
Jerusalem, and took it, and burned it, according to the tenor 
of prophecy. See Jet. xxxvii. 2 — 10 ; vsdth which passage 
compare Ezek. xxxi. This event is dated 586 years b. c. 

Some time after, (about b. c. 574,) the chastisements with 
which the Almighty threatened Pharaoh-hophra began to de- 
scend upon his head. The Cyrenians, a Greek colony 
which had settled in Africa between Libya and Egypt, hav- 
ing seized upon and divided among themselves a great por- 
tion of the country belonging to the Libyans, forced those 
nations to place themselves under the protection of Apries. 
Accordingly, this prince sent a large army into Libya to op- 
pose the Cyrenians ; but this army being defeated and almost 
destroyed, the Egyptians imagined that Apries had sent it 
into Libya in order to seek its destruction, and by that means 
to obtain absolute power over the property and lives of his 
subjects. This reflection prompted them to shake off his 
yoke ; but Apries hearing of the rebellion, despatched Ama- 
sis, one of his officers, to suppress it, and to compel the rebels 
to return to their allegiance. The moment, however, Amasis 
began to address them, they placed a helmet upon his head, 
in token of the dignity to which they intended to raise him, 
and they proclaimed him king. Amasis, therefore, instead 

13* 



150 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

of performing his duty, pleased with hit unexpected honours, 
stayed with the mutineers, and confirmed them in their rehel- 
lion. 

Apries, on receiving intelligence to this effect, was more 
exasperated than ever, and he sent Patarbemis, one of the 
principal lords of his court, to arrest Amasis and bring him 
before him. This was not so easily effected ; the rebel army 
surrounded Amasis to defend him, and Patarbemis was com- 
pelled to return without having executed his commission. 
Apries visited him for this supposed remissness of duty with 
unjustifiable punishment. He was treated, indeed, in the 
most inhuman and ig-nominious manner, his nose and ears 
being cut off by the command of Apries. But this outrage, 
committed upon a person of such high distinction, had the 
worst effect upon the minds of the Egyptians ; they arose in 
a body and joined the rebels, so that the insurrection becemie 
general. Apries was now forced to retire into Upper Egypt, 
where he supported himself some years, during which time 
Amasis made himself master of the rest of his dominions. 

Internal discord was not all the misery brought upon 
Egypt at this period. The king of Babylon, seeing the 
troubles that distracted Egypt, embraced this opportunity of 
invading the kingdom. This prince, unknown to himself, 
was only an agent in the hands of the Almighty, to punish a 
people, on whom, as we have seen, he had, by the mouth of 
his prophet, denounced vengeance. Nebuchadnezzar had 
just before taken Tyre, where himself and army had suflered 
incredible hardships, and yet had obtained no recompense 
when the city fell into their hands ; the Tyrians having 
spoiled the city themselves, and fled aAvay Avitli their effects. 
But the riches of the earth are in the hands of God, and he 
giveth them to whom he will. To recompense the toils 
which the king of Babylon had endured in taking Tyre, 
(which event also took place in accordance with prophecy,) 
God promised him the riches of Egypt, then one of the most 
prosperous and powerful kingdoms in the world. According 
to Herodotus, it was at this epoch at which Egypt Avas most 
flourishing, both with regard to the advantages conferred 
by the river on the soil, and by the soil on the inhabitants. 

There are few passages in Holy Writ more remarkable 
than that Avhich reveals the designs of the Creator with re- 
ference to this event, or which give us a clearer idea of the 
supreme authority he exercises over the children of men, 
however exalted their station may be. " Son of man," said 



HISTORy OF THE EGyPTIANS. 151 

the Almighty to his prophet Ezekiel, " Nebuchadrezzar king 
of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against 
Tyrus: every head was made bald," (owing to the pressure 
of their helmets,) " and every shoulder was peeled," (the con- 
sequence of carrying baskets of earth and large pieces of 
timber to join Tyre to the continent :) '• yet had he no wages, 
nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served 
against it : Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I 
will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of 
Babylon ; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, 
and take her prey ; and it shall be the wages for his army. 
I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith 
he served against it, because they, wrought for me, saith the 
Lord God," Ezek. xxix. 18 — 20. The prophet Jeremiah, 
also, with reference to this event, uses these remarkable 
words : " He shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as 
a shepherd putteth on his garment," (with the greatest readi- 
ness;) "and he shall go forth from thence in peace," Jer. 
xliii. 12. 

The extent of the desolation of Egypt was foretold by the 
prophet Ezekiel, (chap. xxx. 3 — 12,) in these words: — 

" The day is near, 

Even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; 

It shall be the time of the heathen. 

And the sword shall come npon Egypt, 

And great pain shall be in Ethiopia, 

When the slain shall fall in Egypt, 

And they shall take away her multitude, 

And her foundations shall be broken down. 

Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, 

And all the mingled people, and Chub, 

And the men of the land that is in league. 

Shall fall with them by the sword. ^ 

Thus saith the Lord ; 
They also that uphold Egypt shall fall ; 
And the pride of her power shall come down : 
From the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the SWord, 
Saith the Lord God. 

And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, 
And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. 
And they shall know that I am the Lord, 
When I have set a fire in Egypt, 
And when all her helpers shall be destroyed. 
In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships 
To make the careless Ethiopians afraid, 

And great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: 
For, lo, it Cometh. 

Thus saith the Lord God ; 
I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease 



152 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. • ' • ;! 

By the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. 

He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, 

Shall be brought to destroy the land : 

And they shall draw their swords against Egypt, 

And fill the land with the slain. 

And I will make the rivers dry, 

And sell the land into the hand of the wicked : 

And I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, 

By the hand of strangers : 

I the Lord have spoken it." 

How literally the event justified these predictions, profane 
history declares. In the spring of the year, b. c. 570, Nebu- 
chadnezzar, that " cruel lord, and fierce king," invaded 
Egypt j and he quickly overran the whole extent of the coun- 
try, from Migdol, its northern extremity near the Red Sea, to 
Syene, the southern, bordering on Ethiopia, or Abyssinia. 
He made a fearful slaughter wherever he came, and deso- 
lated the country so effectually, that the damage could not be 
repaired in forty years. The spoils he collected were im- 
mense. With these, he clothed, as it were, his army, and 
after he had made alliance vsrith Amasis, or placed him on the 
throne as his viceroy, he returned to Babylon. 

When the Chaldean army had retired from Egypt, Apries 
left the retreat in which he had secreted himself, and ad- 
vanced towards the sea coast, probably on the side of Libya. 
Then, hiring an army of Carians, lonians, and other foreign- 
ers, he marched against Amasis, to whom he gave battle near 
Memphis. In this battle, Apries was taken prisoner, and he 
was carried to the city of Sais, and strangled in his owii 
palace by the Egyptians ; fulfilling the prophecy which saith, 
" Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the 
hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his 
life," Jer. xliv. 30. See also Ezek. xxxii. 32. This occurred 
B. c. 569. 

We have intimated that the king of Babylon AA'^as an agent 
in the hands of God in thus punishing Pharaoh-hophra and 
his people the Egyptians. A notice of other remarkable 
prophecies, not before adduced, and relating to this event, 
may here be given. By the prophet Ezekiel, (chap. xxx. 
22 — 24,) the Ahnighty said : 

" Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, 

And will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken ; 

And I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 

And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, 

And will disperse them through the countries. i 



HISTORV OF THE EGYPTIANS. 153 

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, 
And put my sword in his hand : 
But I will break Pharaoh's arms, 
And he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded 

man. 

The very towns which were to be ravaged by the victor 
are also enumerated, Ezek. xxx. 13 — 18, 

" Thus saith the Lord God ; 
I wUl also destroy the idols, 

And I will cause their images to cease out of Noph ; 
And there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egjrpt : 
And I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 
And I will make Pathros desolate, 
And will set fire in Zoan, [Tanis,] 
And will execute judgments in No. 

And I will pour my fury upon Sin, [Pelusium,] the strength of Egypt; 
And I will cut off the multitude of No. 
And 1 will set fire in Egypt: 
Sin shall have great pain. 
And No shall be rent asunder, 
And Noph shall have distress daily. 
The young men of Aven [Heliopolis] and of Pibeseth [Pubastum] shall 

fall by the sword. 
And these cities shall go into captivity. 

At Tehaphnehes [Daphnse Pelusiae] also they shall be darkened, 
When I shall break there the yokes of Egypt : 
And the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: 
As for her, a cloud shall cover her. 
And her daughters shall go into captivity." 

But the Almighty Avas not less punctual in the accom- 

Elishment of his prophecies which bare reference to such of 
is own people as had retired, contrary to his will, into 
Egypt, after the taking of Jerusalem, and who had forced 
Jeremiah to go down thither with them also. The moment 
they had arrived in Egypt, and had settled at Tanis, the pro- 
phet, after having hid in their presence, by the command of 
God, some stones in a grotto Avhich was near the palace of 
the monarch, declared to them that the king of Babylon 
should soon arrive in Egypt, and that his throne should be 
established in that very place ; that he would lay waste the 
whole kingdom, and carry fire and sword into all places : 
that themselves should fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, 
w)ien one part of them should be slain, and the rest led cap- 
tive to Babylon ; and that only a very small number should 
escape, and be at length restored to their country. All these 
prophecies were accomplished in the appointed time. See 
Jer. xliii. xliv. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 

BABYLONIAN DOMINATION. 
AMASIS. 

The defeat and death of Apries, before mentioned, are 
given on the authority of Herodotus, who represents Amasis 
as a rebel chief taking advantage of the disaffection of the 
army to dethrone his sovereign. This information he re- 
ceived from the Egyptian priests ; but they made no mention 
of the signal defeat their army experienced, nor of that loss 
of territory in Syria which resulted from Nebuchadnezzar's 
success. It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that they dis- 
guised the truth from the Greek historian ; and without men- 
tioning the disgrace which had befallen their country, and 
the interposition of a foreign power, attributed the change in 
the succession, and the elevation of Amasis to the throne, 
solely to his ambition and the choice of the military of Egypt. 
Josephus, however, expressly states that the Assyrian mon- 
arch led an army into Coelo-Syria, of which he obtained pos- 
session, and then waged war on the Ammonites and Moab- 
ites. These being subdued, he invaded and conquered 
Egypt ; and having put the king of that country to death, he 
appointed another in his stead. If Josephus be correct in this 
statement, there is reason to sxipposR he alludes to Apries 
being deposed, and succeeded by Amasis ; and it may be 
readily imagined that the Assyrians, having extended their 
conquests to the extremity of Palestine, would, on the rumour 
of civil war in Egypt, hasten to take advantage of the oppor- 
tunity thus afforded them of attacking the country. This 
would amount almost to a certainty, if, as some suppose, the 
war between Apries and Amasis did not terminate in the 
single conflict at Memphis, but lasted sevoial years ; and that 



HISTOK.Y OF THE EGYPTIANS, 155 

either Amasis solicited the aid and intervention of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, or this prince, availing himself of the disordered state 
of the country, of his own accord invaded it, deposed the right- 
ful sovereign, and placed Amasis on the throne, on condition 
of paying tribute to the Assyrians. 

Amasis then ascended the throne of Egjrpt as a vassal of 
the king of Babylon ; and the injury done to the lands and 
cities of Egypt by this invasion, and the disgrace with which 
the Egyptians felt themselves overwhelmed after such an 
event, would justify the predictions of the prophets concern- 
ing the fall of Egypt. To witness their countrymen taken 
captive to Babylon, and to become tributary to an enemy 
whom they held in abhorrence, would be considered by the 
Egyptians the greatest calamity, as though they had for ever 
lost their station in the scale of nations. This last circum- 
stance would satisfactorily account for the title Melek,* given 
to inferior or tributary kings, being applied to Amasis, in 
-some of the hieroglyphic legends accompanying his name. 

According to Africanus, Amasis was a native of Siouph, 
in the nomos or district of Sais, in the Delta. Herodotus re- 
lates a whimsical experiment to which he had recourse in 
order to gain the affections of his subjects, who in the begin- 
ning of his reign despised him on account of his mean ex- 
traction. He had a golden cistern, in which himself and his 
guests were wont to wash their feet. This he caused to be 
melted doMm, and cast into a statute, which he exposed to 
public worship. The superstitious people hastened in crowds 
to pay their adoration to this new god. This Amasis antici- 
pated, and calling them together, he informed them of the 
vile uses to which this statue, Avhich they now adored, had 
once served. The application was obvious, and it had the 
desired effect; for the people ever afterwards paid Amasis 
the respect due to majesty. Diodorus, however, asserts that 
Amasis was originally a person of consequence ; that he was 
a distinguished member of the mihtary caste, Avhich accords 
with his rank as a general ; and that he married the daugh- 
ter of Psammiticus. 

Amasis used to devote the whole morning to public busi- 
ness, to receive petitions, give audience, pronounce sentence, 
and hold his councils. The rest of the day was devoted to 

* The term Melek denoted an inferior grade of " king," or it was re- 
served for those who governed as tiibutaries or viceroys of a more power- 
ful prince, of which this is an example ; others will appear after the 
Persian conquest. 



156 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

pleasure ; and as Amasis, in these hours of diversion, was ex- 
tremely gay, and indulged in unseemly mirth, his courtiers 
represented to him the unsuitahleness of such conduct. He 
replied, that it was as impossible for the mind to be always 
intent upon business, as for a bow to continue always bent ; 
a reply which indicated that he was well acquainted with the 
weakness of human nature. 

This prince enacted a domiciliary law ; namely, that every 
Egyptian, once during the year, should set forth to the 
nomarch, or chief magistrate of his district, by what means 
he subsisted ; and whoever did not attend, or could not prove 
that he lived honestly, was to be punished with death. This 
was a most effectual law against idlers, and thieves or robbers. 
So wise was it considered by Solon, the Greek legislator, who 
visited the court of Amasis about b. c. 554, that according to 
Herodotus, he introduced it at Athens ; where, says this 
historian, it is still in use as being a blameless law. 

Amasis married a Greek wife from Cyrene. He was an 
admirer of the Grecians ; and he prepared the way for great 
changes in the social condition of Egypt, by allowing Greek 
merchants to settle at Naucratis, and to build temples and 
bazars. When the temple of Delphi was burned by acci- 
dent, he sent a contribution of a thousand talents of alum 
towards rebuilding it ; he also sent rich offerings to the tem- 
ples of Cyrene, Lindus, and Samos.* From this cause, it 
has been inferred, that the Egyptian superstition was not so 
incompatible with that of other nations as might be imagained 
from the domestic feuds of the several sects, for the wor- 
shippers of dogs, cats, wolves, and crocodiles, exercised a con- 
tinual warfare with each other as humorously described by 
Juvenal. He says : — 

"How Egypt, mad with superstition grown, 
Makes gods of monsters, but too well is known : 
One sex devotion to Nile's serpent t pays 
Others to Ibis,! that on serpents preys. 



* The present he made to the temple at Cyrene was a golden statute 
of Minerva, with a portrait of himself; to that of Lindus, two marble 
statutes, with a linen corslet ; and to that of Samos, two figures of him- 
self carved in wood, which were placed inmiediatefy behind the gates, 
where they remained till the time of Herodotus. 

t The crocodile. 

t A bird that is a great destroyer of serpents in Egypt. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 157 

Where Thebes, thy hundred gates lie unrepaired, 

And where maimed Memnon's* mjigic harp is heard, 

Where these are mouldering, let the sots combine. 

With pious care a monkey to enshrine ! 

Fish-gods you'll meet, with fins and scales o'ergrown ; 

Diana's dogs adored in every town ; 

Her dogs have temples, but the goddess none! 

"Tis mortal sin an onion to devour, 

Each clove of garlic is a sacred power." 

The kindness shown by Amasis to Samos, says Herodotus, 
was owing to the friendship which subsisted between him 
and Polycrates, the son effaces; but he had no such mo- 
tive of attachment to Lindus, and was only moved by the 
report of the temple of Minerva having been erected there by 
the daughters of Danaus, when they fled from the sons of 
Egyptus. The same author informs us that his affection for 
the Cyrenians arose from his having married Ladice, a native 
of that country, who was afterwards, when Cambyses con- 
quered Egypt, sent back to her parents. 

The friendship of this monarch of Egypt and Polycrates 
commenced, at the period of the war between the Lacedemo- 
nians and the latter, who had forcibly possessed himself of 
Samos. It had been cemented by various presents on both 
sides, and appeared to promise a long continuance. But 
Plutarch has well observed, that prosperity is no just 
scale, but adversity is the true balance to weigh friends. 
The ancient historian relates that the Egyptian monarch, 
offended with the tyrannical conduct of Polycrates, and 
foreseeing, from the feeling excited against him both among 
his subjects and foreigners, that his fate was inevitable, with- 
drew his friendship from him. The event justified his fore- 
sight ; for the subjects of Polycrates revolted, and he was at 
length murdered by the treacherous Orastes. 

That Amasis was a great encourager of art we have ample 
testimony from the monuments which remain, as well as from 
the statements of ancient historians. He decorated the chief 
city of the nomos in which he was born (Sais) with numer- 
ous great works. There were magnificent propylisa to the 
temple of Athansea, enormous colossi, and large andro- 
sphinxes. His great architectural achievement was a mono- 
lith, or one stone temple, which he brought from the granite 

* This colossus or marble statue of Memnon held a harp in its hand, 
which uttered musical sounds when struck by the beams of the rising 
sun ; which Strabo tells us that he both saw and heard, but confesses he 
is not able to assign a cause. 

VOL. 1. 14 



158 mSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

quarries of Syene, down the river, a distance of about 600 
miles. The exterior dimensions of this stone were 31^ 
Greek feet long, 21 broad, and 12 high : a chamber was cut 
out in the interior, the dimensions of which were, 28|- feet 
long, 18 broad, and 7^ high. Amasis made also, a colossus 
75 Greek feet long, flanked by two smaller figures, 30 feet 
high, which he placed in front of the great temples of 
Hephaestus, (Phtha,) at Memphis. He placed a similar one 
at Sais. 

The restoration of Egypt, says Dr. Hales, under Amasis, 
seems to have been foretold in Scripture : " At the end of 
forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people 
whither they were scattered," Ezek. xxix. 13. These forty 
years of captivity, counted from Nebuchadnezzar's invasion, 
B. c. 570, expired b. c. 530, when Cyrus, who had subverted 
the Babylonian empire, b. c. 538, and into whose power 
Egypt, as a province of that empire, had fallen, by a wise 
and liberal policy, released the Egyptians, as he had before 
the Jews. 

This act of grace occurred five years before the death of 
Amasis. The next year, b. c. 529, Cyrus died, and the 
Egyptians revolted, upon Avhich, Cambyses, the successor of 
Cyrus, made it his first act, after he had settled the eastern 
provinces, to invade Egypt. Herodotus, however, assigns a 
different cause for the invasion. He says, that towards the 
latter end of the reign of this monarch, Cambyses sent to 
Egypt to demand his daughter in marriage, a step to which 
he had been prompted by a certain Egyptian, an enemy of 
Amasis. This man Avas a physician ; and Avhen Cyrus had 
requested of the Egyptian king the best medical advice he 
could procure for a disorder of his eyes, Amasis forced him 
to leave his wife and family and go into Persia.* Meditating 

* The Egyptians paid great attention to health ; and so wisely, says 
Herodotus, was medicine managed by them, that no doctor was permitted 
to practise any but his own particular branch. Some were oculists, who 
only studied diseases of the eye ; others attended solely to the complaints 
of the head ; others to those of the teeth ; some again confined themselves 
to complaints of the intestines ; and others to secret and internal maladies, 
accoucheurs being generally, if not always women. 

The physicians received salaries from the public treasury. After they 
had studied those precepts which were laid down from the experience of 
their predecessors, they were permitted to practise. In order to insure 
their attention to the prescribed rules, and to prevent experiments from 
being made upon patients, they were punished if their treatment was 
contrary to the established system ; and the death of a person tinder such 
circumstances was deemed a capital olTence. If, however, every rtemeldy 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 159 

revenge for this treatnujnt, he instigated his successor to re- 
quire the daughter of Amasis, that he might either suffer 
affliction at the loss of his child, or, by refusing to send her, 
provoke the resentment of Cambyses. Amasis detested the 
character of the Persian monarch ; and persuaded that his 
treatment of her would neither be honourable nor Avorthy of 
a princess, he was unwilling to accept the overture ; but 
fearing to give a positive refusal, he determined on sending 
the daughter of the late king. The name of this princess 
was Neitatis, or, as Herodotus calls her, Nitetis. She was 
possessed of great personal attractions ; and Amasis, having 
dressed her in the most splendid attire, sent her into Persia as 
his own child. Not long after, Cambyses happening to 
address her as the daughter of Amasis, she explained the 
manner in which he had been deceived, by a man who had 
dethroned and put Apries her father to death, and had seized 
upon the throne through the assistance of a rebellious faction. 
Upon this, Cambyses was so enraged, that he resolved to 
make war upon the usurper, and immediately prepared to 
invade Egypt. 

This statement will not bear the test of examination. Nite- 
tis is represented to have been sent to Persia towards the close 
of the reign of Amasis, which lasted forty four years ; and 
allowing her to have been born immediately before Apries 
was dethroned, she would have been of an age which in 
Egypt and Persia is no longer a recommendation or the 

had been administered according to the sanatory law, they were absolved 
from all blame. 

According to Pliny, the Egyptians claimed the honor of having invented 
the art of curing diseases. The Bible, indeed, affords some sanction to 
this claim, by the fact that its first notice of physicians is to intimate their 
existence in Egypt. See Gen. 1. 2; Exod. xxi. 19. The employment 
of numerous drugs in Egypt is mentioned by sacred and profane writers ; 
and the medical properties of many herbs which grow in the deserts are 
stUl known to the Arabs, although their application has been but imper- 
fectly preserved. " O virgin, the daughter of Egypt," says Jeremiah : "in 
vain shalt thou use many medicines ; for thou shalt not be cured," Jcr. 
xlvi. 11. Homer, in his Odyssey, describes the many valuable medicines 
given by Polydamna, the wife of Thonis, to Helen, when in Egypt ; and 
Pliny makes frequent mention of the productions of that country, and 
their use in medicine. The same writer mentions, that the Egyptians ex- 
amined the bodies after their death, to ascertain the nature of the disease 
of which they died. We learn from Herodotus, moreover, that Cyrus, as 
stated above, and Darius, both sent to Egypt for medical men. All this 
tends to prove the medical skill of the ancient Egyptians ; but notwith- 
standing this, it is indicated only in the painting of Beni Hassan, where 
a doctor and a patient are twice represented. 



160 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

associate of beauty. It is more likely, that Amasis, who had 
submitted to Cyrus, refused, upon the death of that conqueror, 
to pay his successor the same homage and tribute. But 
whatever may have been the real motive of this war, it 
is certain that Cambyses was greatly enraged against Amasis; 
and that the Egyptians, when the country was invaded by 
the Persian monarch, were treated with unwonted cruelty. 
The death of Amasis, however, which happened six months 
before the arrival of the Persians, prevented Cambyses from 
satiating his meditated revenge on the Egyptian monarch: 
and judging from the savage rage which the Persian con- 
queror vented upon his lifeless body, it was fortunate for 
Amasis that he had not fallen alive into his hands. 

Herodotus mentions the situation of the tomb of Amasis. 
Like all those of the Saite monarchs, it stood within the pre- 
cincts of the temple of Minerva, in the chief city of that nome, 
which, during the reign of the princes of the twenty-sixth 
dynasty, had become the royal residence of the monarchs, 
and the nominal metropolis of Egypt ; Thebes and Memphis 
still retaining the titles of the capitals of Upper and Lower 
Egypt. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 



PERSIAN DOMINATION. 

Cambyses entered the country of Egypt, b. c. 525, when he 
found that Amasis was just dead, and that he was succeeded 
in his kingdom by his son 

PSAMMENITUS. 

The first operations of Cambyses were against Pelusium, 
which Ezekiel styled, " the strength of Egypt," and Suidas, 
" the key of Egypt," or its strong barrier on the side of Syria 
and Arabia. This place he took by a singular stratagem. 
Finding it was garrisoned entirely by the Egyptian troops, 
he placed a great number of the sacred animals, cats, dogs, 
cows, sheep, etc., in front of the Persians when advancing to 
the walls ; and the Egyptians, not daring to throw a dart, or 
shoot an arrow, for fear of killing some of their gods, the 
walls were scaled, and the city taken without difficulty. 

Conscious of the great danger to which Egypt was ex- 
posed by the invasion of the Persians, Psammenitus made 
great preparations for the defence of the frontier, and advanc- 
ing with his Egyptian troops, and the Ionian and Carian 
auxiliaries, to Pelusium, he encamped in a plain near the 
mouth of the Nile. The Persians having passed the desert, 
took up a position opposite the Egyptian army, and both 
sides prepared for battle. The conflict soon commenced, 
and the battle was for a long time obstinately disputed ; till 
at length, after a great slaughter had been made on both 
sides, the Egyptians gave way and fled. 

The way from Pelusium to Memphis was now open to the 
invader, and with rapid marches he hastened towards the 

14* 



162 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

ancient capital of Lower Egypt. Hoping, however, to obtain 
advantageous terms without another contest, Cambyses sent a 
Persian up the river in a Mitylenian vessel, to treat with the 
Egyptians : but as soon as they saw the vessel enter Mem- 
phis, they rushed in a crowd from the citadel, destroyed it, 
and tore the crew to pieces. At the news of this outrage, the 
indignation of Cambyses knew no bounds ; he immediately 
laid seige to Memphis, and having succeeded in reducing 
that city, he indulged his resentment by putting many of the 
inhabitants to the sword : the king was taken prisoner, and 
2,000 Egyptians of the same age as the son of Psammenitus 
were compelled first to march in procession before the con- 
queror, and were then put to death, as a retaliation for the 
murder of the Persian and Mitylenian herald. There were 
200 Mitylenians destroyed in the vessel, so that ten of the 
first rank among the Egyptians suffered for every one who 
was destroyed on that occasion. Psammenitus himself was 
pardoned ; and such was the respect entertained by the 
Persians for the persons of kings, that he would probably 
have been restored to a tributary throne ; but being detected 
in fomenting a rebellion, he was put to death by Cambyses, 
after a brief reign of six months. 

From this date, b. c. 525, to b. c. 413, Egypt was govern- 
ed by the Persian kings. 

Great havoc followed the reduction of Egypt by Camby- 
ses. Temples and public buildings were destroyed ; tombs 
were violated, and the bodies burned ;* religion was insulted, 
private property pillaged or destroyed, and everything Avhich 
could tempt the avarice or reward the labour of the spoiler 
was seized and appropriated either by the chief or his troops. 
Gold and silver statues, and other objects of value, were sent 
to Persia ; and it would appear that numerous Egyptian cap- 
tives were also sent thither by the conqueror. 

The name of Cambyses, says Mr. Wilkinson, as may be 
easily imagined, is never met with on Egyptian monuments ; 
but a visitor to the slate and breccia quarries, on the road 
from Coptos to the Red Sea, has, at a later period, recorded 
the name of this monarch in hieroglyphics, adding to it the 

• The officers of the French frigate, Luxor, it is said, who removed 
the obelisk, found the sarcophagus of the queen of Aiuasis in a pit at El 
^ooreeh, the body entirely burned, though placed in its original re- 
pository. The tomb had been violated, probably, by the Persians, and 
the body thus treated, and was afterwards reclosed by the Egyptians in 
the sarcophagus. The body had been gilded. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 163 

date of his sixth year. On the same rock two other ovals 
also occur : one of Djirius, with the number 36 ; the other of 
Xerxes, with the year twelve ; showing the inscription to 
have been written in the twelfth of Xerxes ; and the date 36, 
intended as the full extent of the reign of Darius. On ano- 
ther rock, at the same place, are the sixteenth year of Xerxes, 
and the fifth of Artaxerxes Longimanus ; and in the princi- 
pal temple of El Khargeh, in the great Oasis, that of Darius 
again occurs, a considerable portion of the building having 
been erected by him : and it is remarkable, that he is the 
only Persian king whose Phonetic name is accompanied by 
a prenomen like those of the ancient Pharaohs ; a circum-* 
stance which confirms the remark of Diodorus, namely, that 
he, and he alone, of all the Persian monarchs, obtained while 
living the appellation of Divus, or " Good God," which was 
a title given by the Egyptians to all the ancient Pharaohs. 

Upon the death of Cambyses, whose history will be re- 
corded in future pages, b. c. 487, the Persian empire fell 
into the hands of 

SMERDIS, THE MAGIAN, 

who usurped the Persian throne, by pretending to be Smer- 
dis, a son of Cyrus, who had been slain by order of his bro- 
ther Cambyses. This pretext was soon discovered, and the 
pseudo-Smerdis, after a brief reign of seven months, was 
slain as an usurper by 



DARIUS HYSTASPES, 



who, by means of a stratagem, established himself upon the 
throne. 

The rule of Darius was mild and equitable ; he was not 
only careful to avoid every thing that might offend the reli- 
gious prejudices or hurt the feelings of his foreign subjects, 
but having made diligent inquiry respecting the jurispru- 
dence and constitution of the Egyptians, he corrected some 
abuses, and introduced many salutary laws, which continued 
to form part of their code, until, in common with many of 
those enacted by the Pharaohs, they were altered or abroga- 
ted by the Ptolemies, after the Macedonian conquest. 

The Egyptians, however, impatient of foreign rule, and 
anxious to free their country from the presence of a people 
whose cruelties, at the time of the invasion of Cambyses, 
they could never pardon or forget, and thinking the reverse 



164 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

of Persia, during the Greek war, offered a favorable oppor 
tunity for throwing off the yoke, revolted towards the end of 
this monarch's reign, and succeeded in expelling the Per- 
sians from the valley of the Nile. Darius made great pre- 
parations, during three successive years, in order to restore it 
to the empire. At the end of that time, b. c. 484, he re- 
solved to make war in person against Egypt as well as 
Greece ; but death frustrated his designs. He was succeed- 
ed in his empire by 

XERXES, 

who, in the second year of his reign, b. c. 482, invaded 
Egypt in person at the head of a powerful army. He quick- 
ly defeated the Egyptians, and having subdued the whole 
country, he made the yoke of their subjection more heavy 
than before. He then gave the government of that province 
to Achoemenes, his brother, after which he returned to Susa, 
the seat of the Persian government. 

Affairs remained in this state until the death of Xerxes, 
B. c. 460, when 

ARTAXERXES LONGIMANUS 

succeeded to the empire. At this period, considerable confu- 
sion occurred in Persia, which being augmented by the in- 
trigues of Artabanus and the rebellion of Bactria, afforded 
the Egyptians another opportunity for asserting their inde- 
pendence. They prevailed on the Athenians to assist them 
with a fleet of forty sail ; and they attacked and overwhehned 
the Persian garrisons. Upon intelligence of this, an army 
of 400,000 foot, and a fleet of 200, or, according to Diodo- 
rus, eighty sail were equipped by Artaxerxes, and placed un- 
der the command of Achtemenes. Inarus, the son of Psam- 
miticus, a native of Libya, and Amyrtaeus, of Sais, who had 
been invested with sovereign power, and were charged with 
the defence of the country, made every effort to resist him ; 
and the two armies having met, the Persians were defeated 
with great slaughter, and Achaemenes received a wound 
from the hand of Inarus, of which he died. 

Artaxerxes, enraged at this defeat, resolved on sending an 
overwhelming force under the combined command of Mega- 
byzus and Artabazus, consisting, according to ancient au- 
thors, of .500,000 men. Both armies fought valiantly, and 
many were slain on both side? ; at length, Megabyzushav- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAJSS. 165 

ing wounded Inarus in the thigh, obliged him to retire from 
the field, and the rout became general. Inarus, with a body 
of Greek auxiliaries, took refuge in Byblus, which was 
strongly fortified. He there obtained for himself and com- 
panions a promise of pardon from Megabyzus, upon condi- 
tion of their surrendering themselves to the Persian monarch : 
but the remembrance of the death of Achsemenes overcame 
the regard he oAved to the promise of this general, and Ina- 
rus, by the command of Artaxerxes, was crucified. Amyr- 
tseus escaped to the Isle of Elbo, and remaining concealed 
there, awaited better times. The Persian troops again took 
possession of the fortified towns, and Sarsamus was appoint- 
ed satrap, or governor of Egypt. 

No attempts were made to throw off the Persian yoke 
during the remainder of the reign of Artaxerxes ; and 
though the Athenians sent them a fleet qf sixty sail, in the 
fifteenth year of that reign, and some hopes were entertained 
of restoring Amyrtasus to the throne, these projects were 
abandoned, and the Persians continued in undisturbed pos- 
session of the country till the reign of 

DAKIUS NOTHUS. 

This monarch, perceiving that the Egyptians bore with 
great reluctance the presence of a foreign governor, and 
anxious to allay the turbulent spirit and prejudices of that 
people, permitted Thannyrus, the son of Inarus, and Pansiris, 
the son of Amyrtseus,* to hold the office and nominal power 
of governors, or tributary kings. But nothing could concil- 
iate the Egyptians. They beheld the fortified towns garri- 
soned by Persian troops ; the tribute they had to pay to a 
people they detested was insupportable ; and hence nothing 
would satisfy them, but the restoration of an independent 
monarch. To obtain this end they made secret preparations 
for expelling the Persians, and Amyrtseus being invited to 
put himself at their head, advanced from his place of con- 
ceahnent, routed the Persians, and succeeded eventually in 
obtaining possession of the whole country. 

* This must have occurred previous to the year B. c. 445, since the his- 
tory from wheniie it is derived, that of Herodotus, was then completed. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 



EGYPTIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
AMYRT^trS. 

Amyrt^us, or Aomahorte, was a Saite. Having- estab- 
lished himself on the throne, he prepared to pursue the Per- 
sians as far as Phenicia, and had already concerted measures 
with the Arabians to attack them in that country. Darius 
was informed of this, and he recalled a fleet, which he had 
promised the Lacedemonians, to employ in the defence of 
his own dominions, by which means the designs of Amyr- 
tseus were frustrated. 

Amyrtasus is stated in Manetho's list to have been the only 
monarch of the twenty-eighth dynasty. His reign continued 
six years, during which period he laboured to repair the 
many losses sustained by his country from the sway of Per- 
sia. Numerous restorations were made to the temples of 
Thebes and other cities, many of which had suffered from 
the rage of Cambyses ; some gateways, and other monu- 
ments bearing his name, are still in existence. 

rSAMMITICUS II. 

According to Manetho, AmyrtoBus was succeeded in his 
kingdom by Nepherites, the first king of the twenty-ninth 
dynasty ; but Diodorus mentions Psammiticus, who was de- 
scended from the first of that name, whom he supposed to 
have preceded Nepherites. It is uncertain, however, whether 
he really ruled at this time, or whether the historian con- 
founded him with the father of Inarus. 

Psammiticus is chiefly remarkable for an act of perfidy 
and ingratitude, crimes which are alike hateful to God and 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 167 

man. Tamus, an Egyptian, who was one of the admirals 
of the 'fleet of Cyrus the younger when he invaded the Per- 
sian empire, had rendered essential services to Psammiticus. 
On the death of Cyrus, and suppression of his rebellion, Ta- 
mus fled from Tissaphernes, who was appointed his succes- 
sor in the province of Asia Minor, and he implored the 
friendship and protection of the Egyptian king. Psammiti- 
cus was not only deaf to the calls of humanity, gratitude, 
and hospitality, hut hearing that Tamus had brought consid- 
erable treasures with him, he perfidiously seized them, and 
deprived him of life. 

NEPHEEITES. 

The Phonetic name of Nepherites occurs once amidst the 
ruins of Thebes. During his brief reign, Egypt appears to 
have enjoyed tranquillity, for he was enabled to join in active 
hostilities against the enemies of his country. He entered 
into a confederacy with the Lacedemonians, and sent a fleet 
of 100 ships to their aid, with a supply of corn for their 
army. This last, however, fell into the hands ,of the enemy, 
in consequence of the transports putting into Rhodes, which 
had lately submitted to the Persians. Nepherites reigned six 
years. 



Acoris seems to have adopted the policy of his predecessor. 
He made tready with Evagoras, king of Cyprus, against the 
Persians, and endeavoured, by every means in his power, to 
weaken the strength, and thwart the schemes of his adver- 
sary. This, combined Avith the defection of Gaus, the son of 
Tamus, who had been for some time commander of the Per- 
sian fleet, who now, abandoning their service, had entered 
into a league with Acoris, and the Lacedemonians, added to 
the intrigues of Orontes, so embarrassed the affairs of Arta- 
xerxes, that Egypt was able to defy his threatened projects of 
invasion. Acoris reigned thirteen years ; he died b.c. 389. 

PSAMMOUTIS. 

During the reign of Psammoutis, which lasted' only one 
year, nothing of consequnce transpired ; hence his name rare- 
ly occurs on any edifice, either of Upper or Lower Egypt : 
it is found, however, at the temple of Kartrak, at The:.< s, 
which proves his reign. 



168 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 

Of the short period occupied by his two successors, 

NEPHERITES II. AND MOTJTHIS, 

whose names are not met with on the monuments, little can 
be learned, either from that source, or from the accounts of 
ancient writers ; except that the Persians, intent upon the re- 
covery of Egypt, prepared to make a descent upon that coun- 
try, which they attempted in the reign of the succeeding mon- 
arch Avithout success. 

NECTANEBIS. 

In the first year of the reign of this prince, Artaxerxes 
Mnemon, after three years' preparation, invaded Egypt with 
a powerful army of Persians, under the command of Pharna- 
bazus, which was augmented by Grecian mercenaries, under 
Iphicrates. But this army was unsuccessful. The slowness 
of their operations, and the rising of the Nile, defeated their 
designs, and they retreated with great loss. On this occation, 
Iphicrates, having observed to Pharnabazus, that he was quick 
in his resolutions, but slow in the performance, the latter rejoin- 
ed, that his words were his own, but his actions depended wholly 
on his master, wliich shows the extent of authority which 
the Persian monarchs held over their subjects. 

The Egyptian monarch now directed his attention to the 
internal administration of affairs, and the encouragement of 
art. Many temples were repaired or enlarged in various parts 
of the country ; a fine obelisk was cut, and transported from 
the quarries of Syene ; and the name of Nectabeno (bis name 
on the monuments) still occurs in Upper or Lower Egypt. 
That he restored the temple of Mars, at Sebbenytus, with 
great splendour, is recorded in a Greek papyrus, which mo- 
dern researches have discovered in an Egyptian tomb. Nec- 
tanebis, after a reign of eighteen years, was succeeded by 

TACHUS, OR T.E0S. 

Tachus had scarcely ascended the throne, when he was 
alarmed by the warlike preparations of the Persian monarch, 
who threatened again to invade his country. To withstand this 
mighty power, hie hired a body of Spartan mercenaries, who 
were commanded by Agesilaus, their king, Avhom Tachus 
promised to make generahssimo of his army. But this commis- 
sion did Agesilaus no honour. As soon as he landed in Egypt, 
the king's principal generals, and his chief officers of state,. 
came to receive him and pay their court to him. The fame 



IITSTOCY OF THE EGYPTIANS. . 169 

of liis renown also drew multitudes of the Egyptians to the 
shore, for the purpose of catching a glance at the hei'o. But 
the Egyptians were too fond of pomp and show to be attract- 
ed by the appearance of Agesilaus. When they saw only an 
old man, of mean aspect and dwarfish stature, in a simple robe 
of coarse stuff, they were disposed to ridicule him, and they 
applied to him the fable of the mountain in labour, when only 
a mouse came forth. 

This disaffection towards him was felt also at court. When 
Agesilaus met Tachus, and had joined his troops with those 
of Egypt, he Avas surprised that he was not appointed general 
of the whole army, but only of the foreign troops, that Chab- 
rias was made general of the forces at sea, and that Tachus 
retained the command of the army himself. 

This was not the only mortification Agesilaus. had to axpe 
rience. Tachus had formed a resolution to march into Phe- 
nicia, thinking it more advisable to make that country the 
seat of war, than to contend with the Persians in Egypt. 
Agesilaus thought to the contrary ; and he represented to Ta- 
chus that his affairs were not sufficiently established to admit 
his removing out of his dominions ; that he would act more 
Avisely by remaining in Egypt himself, and acting by his gen- 
erals in the enemy's country. Tachus despised this counsel, 
and expressed disregard for Agesilaus on all occasions. The 
consequence was, that Agesilaus, incensed at such conduct 
joined the Egyptians who had taken up arms against Tachus 
during his absence, and had placed his cousin Nectanebus on 
the throne. 

Tachus was now obliged to quit Egypt, and he retired to 
Sidon, from whence he went to the court of Persia, where he 
was received with favour by Artaxerxes, who gave him the 
command of his troops against the rebels. 

But Nectanebus was not yet established on the throne of 
Egypt. At this period, about b. c. 362, another prince of the 
city of Mendes disputed the crown with him, and he collected 
a numerous force to support his pretensions. Agesilaus gave 
advice to the effect that this force should be attacked before 
they were disciplined ; but Nectanebus, imagining that Ages- 
ilaus desired to betray him, took no notice of his advice, and 
thereby gave his enemy time to prepare his troops for opera- 
tions. He did this so effectually that he reduced Nectanebus. 
to the necessity of retiring into a city. Thither Agesilaus. 
was obliged to follow him, and they- were besieged there by 
the Mendesian prince. 

VOL. .f. 15 



170 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Nectanebus would have attacked the enemy before his 
works (which Avere begun in order to surround the city) were 
advanced ; but Agesilaus would not listen to his proposals. 
But at length, when he saw these works in a sufficient state 
of forwardness, and that there remained only as much ground 
between the two ends of the line as the troops within the city 
might occupy, he told Nectanebus that it was time to attack 
the enemy. The attack was conducted by Agesilaus, and 
success attended all his operations, so that the Mendesian 
prince was always overcome, and at length taken prisoner. 

NECTANEBUS. 

was now, b. c. 361, left in possession of the throne of Egypt. 
But he did not long enjoy it in peace. Darius Ochus, who 
had succeeded to the kingdom of Persia, dissatisfied with the 
failures of his lieutenants, invaded Egypt with a numerous 
force, resolving to reduce it entirely to his allegiance. Upon 
his arrival there, he encamped before Pelusium, from whence 
he detached three bodies of troops, each of them commanded 
by a Greek and a Persian, to whom he assigned equal autho- 
rity. Darius himself remained with the main body of the 
army in the camp, to wait the event, and to be ready to sup- 
port these detachments in an emergency, or to improve the ad- 
vantages they might gain. 

Nectanebus had long expected this invasion, — for the pre- 
parations had been going forward some years, and he there- 
fore was prepared to meet the Persian forces. He had, it is 
said, an army of 100,000 men, 20,000 of whom Avere Greek, 
and 20,000 Libyan mercenaries. Part of this army he dispo- 
sed on the frontiers of Egypt, and the rest he headed at the 
passes, to dispute the enemy's entrance. 

The first detachment of Ochus was sent against Pelusium, 
were there was a garrison of 5,000 Greeks. Lachares the 
Theban, who headed this detachment, besieged the city, while 
that under Nicostratus the Argive, going on board a squad- 
ron of fourscore ships of the Persian fleet, entered one of the 
mouths of the Nile at the same time, and sailed into the heart 
of Egypt, where they landed, and fortified themselves in a 
camp advantageously situated. The Egyptian troops in these 
parts were immediately drawn together under Clinias, a 
Greek, and prepared to repel the enemy. An action ensued, 
in which Clinias and 5,000 of his troops were killed, and 
the rest dispersed. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTFANS. 171 

This action decided the fate of Egypt. Nectanebus, ap- 
prehending that the Persian army would embark again upon 
the Nile, and take Memphis, the capital of his kingdom, 
abandoned the passes, and hastened thither to defend it, thus 
leaving the country open to the enemy. Mentor, indeed, who 
commanded the third detachment, finding the passes clear and 
unguarded, entered the country, and made himself master of 
it without opposition. He caused a report to be spread, that 
Darius had given orders that all those who would submit 
should be treated with favour, and that such as made resis- 
tance should be destroyed ; and the whole country upon this 
report, Greeks as well as Egyptians, strove which should be 
foremost in their submission. 

The overthrow of Nectanebus occurred b. c. 350. He was 
the last native king of Egypt, and since his time, Egypt has 
been, and still continues to be " the basest of the kingdoms," 
according to the prophecy of Ezekiel, chap. xxix. 15. It has, 
indeed, says an acute writer, been an independent kingdom 
under the Ptolemies and the Saracens, and it may be possible 
that the present ruler should estabhsh its independence. But 
this matters not ; for these independent sovereigns in Egypt 
were foreigners, surrounded by people of their own nation, 
who engrossed all wealth, power, and distinction; leaving 
Egj'pt as a country, and the proper Egyptians as a people, 
oppressed and miserable. This is, surely, a marked fulfil- 
ment of prophecy, delivered at a time when Egypt, under its 
own kings, great and magnificent, took no second place 
among the nations. In this event, therefore, we may trace 
the finger of God, and say that he ruleth among the nations, 
and hath done whatsoever he pleased, Psa. xxii. 28 ; cxv. 3. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 



PERSIAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
DARIUS OCHUS. 

It has been recorded, that during the previous occupation of 
Egypt by the Persian troops, the inbabitants had been exposed 
to much persecution. They were now doomed to severer 
sufferings. Darius, the king of Persia, as soon as he had con- 
quered Egypt, commenced a fearful work of slaughter and 
destruction throughout the country. If Cambyses had com- 
mitted unheard-of enormities — if he had derided the religion 
and insulted the various deities of Egypt — if, as Herodotus 
affirms, he had ordered their bull-god Apis to be brought be- 
fore him, and had stabbed it Avith his dagger — if he had been 
guilty of every species of oppression ; he was still surpassed 
in acts of barbarity by Ochus. Wanton injustice, murders, 
profanation of religious rites, and continual persecutions were 
his delight. One of the most flagrant insults which Darius 
put upon their established religion, towards which their minds 
were strongly affected, though it is not possible to conceive 
one more absurd and grossly idolatrous, was, not only that he 
caused the sacred Apis to be slaughtered, but also he caused 
it to be served up at a banquet, of which he and his friends 
partook. 

After these insults, Darius returned in triumph to Babylon, 
laden with the spoils of Egypt. He left the government of 
Egypt to Pherendates, a Persian of the first rank, who car- 
ried on the work of demolition his master had commenced. 
All Egypt groaned under the tyranny of Ochus. His reign, 
however, was not of long duration : in two years the Egyp- 
tians were relieved from his yoke bv his deatli ; and to show 



HISTOUY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 173 

their hatred of him, they substituted for his reign the repre- 
sentation of a sword, the emblem of destruction, in their cata- 
logne of kings. 

Ochus was succeeded in his empire, b. c. 348, by 

ARSES, 

in whose reign nothing transpired concerning Egj^t worthy 
of notice. To Arses succeeded, b. c. 335, 

DARIUS CODOMANTJS, 

who seems to have followed the line of policy upon which 
Ochus acted towards Egypt. 

But Egypt did not continue long under the Persian sway. 
Alexander the Great, having conquered the whole of Asia 
Minor, and Syria, resolved to invade Egypt also, and to wrest 
it out of the hands of Darius. Accordingly, he marched 
thither with an army flushed with successive victories, and 
hence almost irresistible. 

The Egyptians were at this time ripe for rebellion, and 
cared little who ruled over them, so that they were freed from 
the Persians. They were incensed by their continual op- 
pressions to the utmost ; and the knowledge of this combined 
with a circumstance here narrated, might have had the effect 
upon the mind of Alexander of bringing him to the resolve 
of invading Egypt. 

One Amyntas, a general in the service of Alexander, had 
deserted from him, and had joined the interest of Darius. 
But there was no bond in those days of paganism to bind 
men together in love and fealty. Amyntas had proved faith- 
less to Alexander, and he rebelled against Darius also. He 
had commanded the Grecian forces in the service of the 
Persians at the battle of Issus, and having escaped into Syria 
by the way of Tripoli, with 4,000 men, had there seized upon 
as many vessels as he wanted, burned the rest, and set sail 
for Cyprus. He afterwards marched towards Pelusium, and 
upon feigning that he had a commission from Darius, ap- 
pointing him governor in the room of Sabaces, who was killed 
in the battle of Issus, he took that city. This accomplished, 
he threw off the mask, claiming the crown of Egypt, and de- 
claring that the motive of his coming was to expel the Per- 
sians. Upon this declaration, great numbers of the Egyp- 
tians Avent over to him, and Amyntas having his forces thus 
augmented, marched directly for Memphis, the capital of the 
'1.5* 



174 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

kingdom. Here he fought a battle with and defeated the 
Persians, shutting them up in Memphis ; but after he had 
gained this victory, having neglected to keep his soldiers in 
a body, the Persians sallied forth, and destroyed them, with 
Amyntas their leader. 

If this circumstance did not give rise to Alexander's inva- 
sion of Egypt, it increased the aversion which the Egyp- 
tians entertained for the Persians, so that, when Alexander 
reached that country, he was hailed by the natives as their 
deliverer from bondage. His arrival, at the head of a power- 
ful army, presented them with sure protection, which Amyn- 
tas could not offer them ; and from this consideration, they 
unanimously declared in his favour ; and Mazosus, who com- 
manded in Memphis, finding that he could not resist so 
powerful a force, and that Darius was not able to succour him, 
set open the gates to the conqueror, and gave him all the 
treasures which Darius possessed in that city. Thus Alexan- 
der possessed himself of all Egypt Avithout a single conflict. 
The period at which this event occurred is dated b. c. 332. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT. 



MACEDO-GRECIAN ADMnsaSTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
ALEXANDER. 

As soon as Alexander had conquered Egypt, he paid a 
visit to the temple of Amun, or Jupiter Ammon, which was 
situated in the midst of the sandy deserts of Libya. Plutarch 
attributes this to political motives ; and he affirms that he 
neither believed nor was elated with the notion of his divinity 
as the son of Amun, but only made use of it to bring others 
into subjection, among the barbarians. To the Greeks, he 
was extremely cautious of avowing such pretensions ; and 
when wounded once with an arrow, he exclaimed, " My 
friends, this is blood, and not the ichor shed by the immortal 
gods."' His pretensions to divinity, therefore, must be looked 
upon as an imposition upon the vulgar, and as one of those 
means whereby he climbed to the height of his ambition, that 
of conquering the known world. 

As Alexander was going thither, he gave orders to build 
the city of Alexandria, between the sea and the Mareotic 
Lake which city afterwards became the capital of the king- 
dom. The erection of this city was proceeded with imme 
diately, so that when he returned from Libya, on visiting the 
spot, he found that considerable progress had been made. 
To hasten the building of this city, he appointed Cleomenes 
inspector over it, with orders for him to levy the tribute 
which Arabia was to pay, an order vf hich was executed with 
the utmost rigour. When it was completed, he adopted a 
wise plan to people it. He invited thither persons from all 
parts of the Avorld, to whom he offered advantageous condi- 
tions. Among others, he drew thither a great number of 



176 m.^TOtlY l)F T!ii; V-GYVIIASS. 

Jews, to Vv'liom he give g-rca't piivileges, leaving them the 
free exerpise of their religion and laws, and assigning them 
equal civil rights with the Macedonians, whom he had settled 
there. 

On his return from Libya, Alexander wintered at Mem- 
phis, where he settled the affairs of Egypt. He directed that 
none but Macedonians should command the troops. He ap- 
pointed separate and independent governors of the several 
garrisoned towns, in "order to prevent the mischief so often 
experienced by the Persians, by entrusting too much power 
to a single governor. He separated the financial, judicial, 
and military functions, to prevent the oppression of the peo- 
ple by their union. Finally, he directed that Alexandria should 
be the common emporium of commerce for the eastern and 
western worlds, by its two adjacent seas, the Red Sea and the 
Mediterranean. 

Egypt continued under the sway of Alexander till his death, 
which occurred b. c. 323, when it came into the possession of 
the Ptolemies. The first of these was 



PTOLEMY LAGUS, 



who was the natural brother of Alexander, and one of his 
generals. 

The reign of Ptolemy is dated in the Canon b. c. 305. 
This arises from the circumstance that he did not assume the 
title of king until after the extinction of Alexander's posterity 
by the murder of his natural son, Alexander -^gus, the year 
before, about which time other generals, also, among whom 
the Persian empire had been divided, as it is expressed, " put 
on croAvns." 

Besides Egypt, Ptolemy Lagus had for his share, Lybia 
and Cyrenaica, with that part of Arabia which borders on 
Egypt. But he does not seem to have been satisfied with his 
portion, though it was a widely extended one. His first 
noted act was to wrest the provinces of Coelo-Syria, Phenicia 
and Judea, from Laomedon to whom they had been assigned. 
This he soon accomplished. Nicanor, whom he sent into 
Syria with a body of land forces, defeated Laomedon, and 
took him prisoner, by which means he soon conquered the 
inland country. The same success attended Ptolemy Lagus, 
who headed the fleet which attacked the coasts, so that he be- 
came absolute master of those provinces. The people who 
caused him the most trouble were the Jews. Reg-arding tho 



HISTORY OF THE EUYPTIANS. 177 

obligation they were under hj the oath they had taken to 
their governor, they were determined to continue faithful to 
it. But he besieged Jerusalem with a large army, and tak- 
ing advantage of the sabbath day, on which no Jew thought 
it lawful to defend himself, he stormed it, without any resis- 
tance from the inhabitants, b. c. 322. At firet, Ptolemy treated 
the Jews with great rigour, carrying away 100,000 of them 
captives to Egypt, and, according to Appian, demolishing their 
walls. Afterwards, however, he changed his policy towards 
them. Wishing to attach a people so faithful to their gover- 
nors, and so important, as a barrier on his northern frontier, 
he restored to them the privileges which Alexander had 
granted them, entrusted to them the garrisoning of the most 
important fortresses of Egypt, Judea, and Samaria ; and gave 
great encouragement to those who would settle in his new 
capital of Alexandria. 

After this event, Ptolemy Lagus extended his conquests 
to Cyprus, Arabia, Libya, and Ethiopia, and became great 
in the sight of men. There is a reference made to his great- 
ness in the prophecies of Daniel. That prophet, predicting 
the intermarriages and wars of the kings of the no7-th and 
south, or of Syria and Egypt, and the oppressions and perse- 
cutions of the Jews between the two contending powers, till 
"the depression of the Syrians by the Romans, which he does 
with minute historical precision, says, " And the king of the 
south [Ptolemy Lagus] shall be strong, and one of his [Alex- 
ander's] princes, [Seleucus the governor of Babylon and the 
eastern provinces ;] and he shall be strong above him, and 
have dominion ; his dominion shall be a great dominion," 
Dan. xi. 5. 

Ptolemy Lagus retained these provinces till about b. c. 314, 
at which time, Antigonus, vv^hose ambition it was to m.ake 
himself master of the empire of Asia, wrested from him Phe- 
nicia, Syria, and Judea. AfterAvards, however, about b. c. 
312, Ptolemy having mad e himself ma ster of Cyprus, made a de- 
scent into Syria, where he acquired great spoils, and took a large 
number of prisoners, whom he carriedwith him into Egypt. 
He then, Avith Seleucus, concerted a plan for regaining Syria 
and Phenicia, and marched thither with a large army, after 
repressing a revolt among the Cyreneans. He found Deme- 
trius Poliorcetes, or the " taker of cities," the son of Anti- 
gonus, at Gaza, by whom he Avas opposed AvitJa much valour. 
But Ptolemy succeeded in his designs. After a fierce en- 
gagement, in Avhich Demetrius lost 5,000 men slain, and 



178 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

8,000 prisoners, besides his tents, treasures, and equipage, he 
was compelle'd to abandon Phenicia, Palestine, and Coelo- 
Syria to Ptolemy. The conqueror generously returned the 
riches which he had taken from Demetrius, as well as the 
friends and domesiics of that prince ; but the prisoners were 
sent into Egypt to serve him in his fleet. 

Ptolemy now pursued his conquests. But they were of 
short duration. In the same year, Demetrius, deriving ex- 
perience from his misfortunes, obtained a great victory over 
Cilles, Ptolemy's lieutenant, who had arrived in Syria with 
a numerous army, and the next year, (b. c. 311,) Antigonus 
advanced thither in order to secure the advantages which 
this event presented to him. 

Antigonus crossed Mount Taurus, and jomed his son, 
whom he tendeny emoraced : and Ptolemy, being sensible 
that he was not able to oppose the united forces of the father 
and son, resolved to demolish the fortifications of Acco, Jopjm, 
Samaria, and Gaza ; after which he returned into Egypt with 
the greatest pari of the riches of the country, and numbers of 
the inhabitants. In this manner was all Phenicia, Ccelo-Syria, 
and Judea wrested from Ptolemy a second time. 

Josephus says, that the inhabitants of these provinces who 
followed Ptolemy did so more out of inclination than restraint ; 
the moderation and humanity with which he had governed 
them having gained their hearts so effectually, that they were 
more desirous of living under his sway in a foreign country, 
than of continuing subject to Antigonus in their own. They 
were strengthened in this resolution by the advantageous 
proposals which Ptolemy made them ; for, m order to people 
Alexandria, his capital, he offered them extraordinary privi- 
leges and immunities. Such was his policy on a former oc- 
casion, and such it doubtless was at this time. Many of the 
inhabitants that followed him from these provinces were Jews, 
to whom he confirmed the privileges -which Alexander had 
granted to them : a large body of Samaritans, also, Avere 
established there under the auspices of the same liberal policy. 

About B. c. 309, Ptoicmy Lagus recommenced the war. 
He took several cities m Ciiicia and other parts from Antigo- 
nus ; but Demetrius soon regained what his flither had lost 
in Ciiicia, and the other generals of Antigonus had the same 
success against those of Ptolemy. Cyprus was now the only 
territory where Ptolemy preserved his conquests. 

In order to obtain some compensation for what he had lost 
in Ciiicia, Ptoleni}'", about i;. t'. 30S, invaded Pamphylia, Ly 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 179 

cia, and other provinces of Asia Minor, where he took seve- 
ral places from Antigonus. He then sailed into the ^gean 
Sea, and made himself master of the isle of Andros ; after 
which he took Sicyon, Corinth, and some other cities. 

But Ptolemy was recalled from his pursuit of conquest by 
the treachery of the governor of Libya and Cyrenaica, who 
excited an insurrection which caused him great inquietude. 
This officer, whose name was Ophelias, had served under 
Alexander, and after the death of that prince had embraced 
the interest of Ptolemy Lagus, whom he followed into Egypt. 
Ptolemy gave him the conamand of the army which was to 
reduce Libya and Cyrenaica to his allegiance, and when he 
had accomplished this, the government of the provinces was 
bestowed upon him. But when Ophelias saw his master en- 
gaged in Avar with Antigonus and Demetrius, he rendered 
himself independent. He did not long, however, enjoy the 
possession of these provinces, for he was slain by the treach- 
ery of Agathocles, b. c. 307, [see the History of the Cartha- 
ginians,] and Ptolemy upon his death recovered Libya and 
Cyrenaica. 

About B. c. 306, Demetrius was commissioned by his 
father to go with a numerous army to retake the isle of Cy- 
prus from Ptolemy. Before he undertook this expedition, he 
sent ambassadors to the Rhodians, to invite them to an alliance 
against Ptolemy ; but the Rhodians resolved to preserve a 
strict neutrality. Demetrius then advanced to Cyprus, where 
he made a descent, and marched to Salamis, the capital of 
that island. Menelaus, the brother of Ptolemy, had taken re- 
fuge in this city with most of his troops ; but on the approach 
of Demetrius, he marched out and gave him battle. Mene- 
laus was defeated, and compelled to re-enter the place, with 
the loss of 1,000 slain and 3,000 prisoners. 

Demetrius now besieged the city, but Menelaus having 
given advice to Ptolemy of his defeat, and the consequent 
siege of Salamis, he caused a powerful fleet to be fitted out, 
and advanced with the utmost expedition to his assistance. 
He arrived with a fleet of 150 sail, and both sides prepared 
for battle. Ptolemy directed Menelaus, who was still at Sal- 
amis, to advance Avitli the sixty vessels under his command, 
in order to charge the rear-guard of Demetrius in the heat of 
the battle ; but that general had placed a sufficient guard at 
the entrance of the port, which was very narrow, to prevent 
his coming forth. Demetrius then drew out his land forces, 
and extended them along the points of land which projected 



ISO ' HlStOK-Y OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

iTito the sea, that he might, in case of defeat, be able to assist 
those who might be obliged to save themselves by swimming. 
After this, he sailed into the sea with 180 galleys, and 
charged the fleet of Ptolemy with so much impetuosity that 
he broke the line of battle. Ptolemy, finding his defeat inev- 
itable, had recourse to flight, and the eight galleys that ac- 
companied him were all that escaped. 

The train and baggage of Ptolemy, together with his 
tvives, friends, and domestics, provisions, arms, money, and 
machines of war, on board the store-ships which lay at an- 
chor, were seized- by Demetrius, who caused them to be car- 
ried to his camp. These prisoners, however, he afterwards 
returned without ransom, and he caused the slain to be in- 
t-erred in a magnificent manner. With so much more gene- 
rosity, says Justin, was war carried on in those days than Ave 
'find transactions now among friends. At this period, indeed, 
conquerors seemed to vie with each other in acts of this kind. 
How much more nobly would they have acted had they for- 
'given each others' wrongs, and respected each others' rights, 
so as to have refused drawing the sword from the scabbard, 
and meeting in the deadly strife ! How much more happi- 
ness would they have known, had the law of love ruled their 
actions ! In silent eloquence nature declares that all beside 
man fulfil the works of love and joy ; and why should he 
fabricate a SAVord to stab his peace, and Avhy cherish the snake 
revenge in his bosom ? Reason cries out against it, and our 
"best feelings recoil at the idea of AA-ar : but human depravity 
shoAvs itself to be deaf to the A'oice of nature and of reason. 

In this year it AA^as that Ptolemy, Avith the other successors 
of Alexander, first assumed the title of king ; he must, there- 
fore, be noAv spoken of as the king of Egypt. 

In the first year of Ptolemy's reign, b. c. 305, Antigonus 
made great preparations for the invasion of Egypt. With 
this intention he assembled an army of 1 00,000 men in Syria, 
Avhich he conducted by land ; and Demetrius foUoAved him 
Avith his fleet, AA'hich coasted along tlie shore to Gaza. At the 
time they arrived at Gaza, the sea Avas A^ery tempestuous, and 
the pilots advised them to wait till the setting of the Pleiades, 
or about eight days ; but Antigonus, impatient to surprise 
Ptolemy, while he Avas unprepared to meet him, disregarded 
this advice, and marched forAA'ard. Demetrius Avas ordered 
to make a descent in one of the moiiths of the Nile, Avhilst 
Antigonus Avas to endeavour to open a passage by land into 
the heart of the country. But their designs proved cbortive. 



HISTORY OF THE EGITTIANS. 181 

The fleet of Demetrius sustained much damage from storms ; 
and Ptolemy had taken such precaution to secure the mouth 
of the Nile as to render it impossible for him to land his 
troops. Antig-onus, also, had endured many hardships in 
crossing the deserts that lie between Palestine and Egypt, 
and he had much greater difficulties to surmount than Deme- 
trius, so that he was not able to pass the first arm of the Nile 
that lay in his march. Ptolemy, moreover, bribed a great 
number of the followers of Antigonus to desert from him ; so 
that, after hovering on the frontiers of Egypt to no purpose, 
he was compelled to return into Syria. 

This was the last attack which Ptolemy had to sustain for 
the crown of Egypt, and the result greatly contributed to con- 
firm it to him. Ptolemy the astronomer, therefore, fixes the 
commencement of his reign at this period, ^nd afterwards 
points out the several years of its duration in his Chronologi- 
cal Canon. 

In the year b. c. 304, Ptolemy sent an army to aid the 
Rhodians, who were besieged by Demetrius, by whose prow- 
ess they were saved from apparent destruction. To testify 
their gratitude to him for this assistance, they consecrated a 
grove to him, after they had consulted the oracle of Jupiter 
Amon, to give the action an air of solemnity. They erected 
also a magnificent edifice within it to his honour. This was 
a sumptuous portico, continued along each side of the square 
which encompassed the grove, containing a space of about 
1,000 yards. This portico was called the Ptolemscon. 

Nor did their gratitude stop here ; it led them, indeed, into 
acts of the grossest impiety. They paid divine honoiirs to 
him in the Ptolemceon, and in order to perpetuate the mem- 
ory of their deliverer in this war, they gave him the appella- 
tion of Soter, which signifiee "a saviour;" thus giving to 
man what is due to God alone. 

It is by the term Soter that historians, usually distinguish 
Ptolemy Lagus from the other Ptolemies who succeeded him 
on the throne of Egypt. 

In the year b. c. 302, a confederacy was formed betvi^een 
Cassander of Macedonia, Lysimachus of Thrace, Seleucus 
governor of Babylon, and Ptolemy king of Egypt, against 
Antigonus and Demetrius, whom they defeated at Ipsus in 
Phrygia, in the following year, at which time Antigonus was 
slain. The result of this battle was, a new division of the 
Macedonian empire, fulfilling prophecy, (Dan. viii..) wherein 
fin-.r kings are emblemr^tically described under the figure of 

V.)L. I. - IG 



Vo'Z HlsTuKl' OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

four horns. In this division, Egypt, Libya, Ccslo-Syria, and 
Palestine, were confirmed to Ptolemy. 

Little more is recorded of Ptolemy save that he regained 
Cyprus, B. c. 295 ; and that he renewed the league with Ly- 
simachus and Seleucus b. c. 287, in which they likewise en- 
gaged Pyrrhus king of Epirus, in order to frustrate the de- 
signs which Demetrius entertained of regaining the empire 
of his father in Asia, Avhich they did effectually. 

At length, b. c. 285, Ptolemy Soter, after a reign of twenty 
years in Egypt with the title of king, and of nearly thirty- 
nine from the death of Alexander, was desirous of transmit- 
ting the throne to Ptolemy Philadelphus, one of his sons hy 
Berenice. The ruling motive for so doing, appears to have 
been, to prevent contentions about the throne. Ptolemy had 
several children by his other wives, and among them, Ptolemy 
surnamed Ceraunus, or " the Thunder," who being the son 
of Eurydice the daughter of Antipater, and the eldest of the 
male issue, considered the crown as his right when his father 
should be deceased. But Berenice, v/ho came into Egypt 
merely to accompany Eurydice, at the time of her espousals 
with Ptolemy, had so charmed him with her beauty, that he 
married her, and so great was her ascendancy over him, that 
she obtained the crown for her son, in preference to all the 
rest. In order, therefore, to prevent contentions after liis 
death, he resolved to have Ptolemy Philadelphus crowned 
while yet he himself Avas living. At the same time, he re- 
signed his dominions to him, declaring that it was more glo- 
rious to create than to be a king. 

Ptolemy Soter died b. c. 283, in the eighty-fourth year of 
his age. He v/as one of the most able and worthy men of 
his race, and he left behind him an example of prudence, jus- 
tice, and clemency, Avhich his successors rarely imitated. 
During the time he governed Egj^pt, he raised it to such a 
height of grandeur and power, as rendered it superior to 
other kingdoms. He retained upon the throne the same fond- 
ness for simplicity of manners, and the sam^e aversion to os- 
tentation, as he displayed Avhen he first ascended it. He was 
accessible to his sul>jccts to a degree of familiarity. He fre- 
quently visited them at their OAvn houses, and when he enter- 
tained them himself, he considered it no disgrace to borrow 
articles of gold and silver plate from the rich, and to acknow- 
ledge that he had little of his own. Plutarch says, that when 
some persons represented to him that the regal dignity re- 
quired an air of opulence, his answer was, that the true .fran- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYFTUNS. 183 

deur of a king consisted in enriching- others, not in being 
rich himself. Ptolemy seems also to have been a man of 
enlightened mind, and to have made himself acquainted with 
polite literature. Arrian records that he compiled the life of 
Alexander, Avhich was greatly esteemed by the ancients, but 
which has not reached the moderns. 

PTOLElvrY THILADELPHUS. 

On ascending the throne of Egypt, this prince entertained 
the people with the most splendid festival recorded in the 
pages of ancient history, and which gives a clear idea of the 
opulence and idolatry of Eg^^pt at this period. 

This pompous solemnity continued a whole day, and was 
conducted through the extent of the city of Alexandria. It 
was divided into several parts, and formed a variety of pro- 
cessions. Thus the gods had each of them a distinct caval- 
cade, the decorations of which were descriptive of their his- 
tory. That of Bacchus, a portion of which we give as related 
by Athemeus, will convey an idea of the magnificence (if so 
it may be called) of the rest. 

This procession began with a troop of Sileni, some habited 
in purple, others in robes of a deep red : their employment 
was to keep off the crowd, and clear the way for the pageant. 

Next to the Sileni, came a band of satyrs, composed of 
twenty in two ranks, each carrying a gilded lamp. 

These were succeeded by Victories, AAdth golden wings, 
carrying vases nine feet in height, partly gilded and partly 
adorned with the leaves of ivy, in which perfumes were burn- 
ing. Their habits were embroidered with figures of animals, 
and were covered with gold. 

After these, came a double altar, nine feet in height, and 
covered with a luxuriant foliage of ivy, intermixed with orna- 
ments of gold. It was also beautified with a golden crown, 
made in imitation of vine leaves, and adorned with white 
fillets. 

A hundred and twenty youths advanced next, clothed in 
purple vests, each of them bearing a golden vase of incense, 
myrrh, and saffron. 

These were followed by forty satyrs, wearing crowns of 
gold which represented the leaves of ivy, and in the right 
hand of each was another crown of the same metal, adorned 
with vine leaves. Their habits \vere diversified with a va- 
riety of colours. 



184 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS 

In the rear of these marched two Sileni, arrayed in purpJc 
mantles and white drawers ;. one of them wore a kind of 
hat, and carried a golden caduceus in his hand ; the other 
had a trumpet. Between these two was a man six feet in 
height, masked, and habited like a tragedian. This man 
carried a golden cornucopia, and was distinguished by the 
appellation of The Year. 

This person preceded a beautiful woman, as tall as him- 
self, dressed in a magnificent manner, and glittering with 
gold. She held in one hand a crown composed of the leaves 
of the peach-tree, and in the ether a branch of the pahn. 
She was called Penteteris, a word signifying the space of 
five years, because at the expiration of every fourth year, the 
feast of Bacchus was celebrated at the beginning of the next, 
which was the fifth. 

The next in the procession were the genii of the four sea- 
sons, wearing characteristic ornaments, and supporting the 
golden vases of odours, adorned with ivy leaves. In the 
midst of these genii was a square altar of gold. 

A band of satyrs next appeared wearing golden crowns, 
fashioned like the leaves of ivy, and arrayed in red habits. 
Some bore vessels filled with Avine, others carried drinking 
cups. 

Immediately after these came Philiscus, the poet and priest 
of Bacchus, attended by comedians, musicians, dancers, and 
other persons of that class. 

Two tripods were carried next as prizes for the victors at 
the athletic combats and exercises. One of these tripods, be- 
ing thirteen feet and a half in height, was intended for the 
youths ; the other, which was eighteen feet high, was de- 
signed for the men. 

A car, which had four wheels, was twenty -one feet ni 
length, and twelve in breadth, and was drawn by 180 men, 
followed next. In tliis car Avas a figure representing Bac- 
chus, fifteen feet in height, in the attitude of performing liba- 
tions with a large cup of gold. He AA-as arrayed in a robe 
of brocaded purple, AA-hich flowed down to his feet. Over 
this Avas a transparent vest of a satTron colour, and above 
that a large purple mantle embroidered Avith gold. Before 
him Avas a large vessel of gold formed in the Lacedemonian 
fashion, and forming fifteen measures, called in the Greek, 
mctretes. This AA'as accompanied Avith a golden tripod, on 
which Avere placed a gold'^n A'ase of odours, and two golden 
;ups full of cinnamon and saffron. Bacchus Avas seated un- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 185 

der the shade of ivy and vine leaves, intermixed with the fo- 
liage of fruit trees ; and from these hung several crowns, 
fillets, and thyrsi, with timhrels, ribands, and a variety of sa- 
tiric, comic, and tragic masks. In the same car were the 
priests and priestesses of that deity, with the other ministers, 
and interpreters of mysteries, dancers of all classes, and wo- 
men bearing vases. 

These were succeeded by the Bacchantes, who marched 
with their hair dishevelled, and who wore crowns, composed, 
some of serpents, and others of the branches of the yew, 
vine, or ivy. Some of these women carried knives in their 
hands, others serpents. 

During the games and public combats, which continued 
some days after this solemnity, Ptolemy Soter presented the 
victors with twenty cro-wns of gold, and they received twenty- 
three from Berenice his consort. It appeared by the registers 
of the palace that these last crowns were valued at 2,230 
talents and fifty mince, about 334,400Z. sterling ; from whence 
some judgment may be formed of the immense simis to 
which all the gold and silver employed in this ceremonial 
amounted. 

Such was the nature of the pageant exhibited by Ptolemy 
Philadelphus at his coronation. In no part of it does it seem 
to have been conducted with elegance, or to have exhibited 
the least trace of taste or genius. The spoils of whole pro- 
vinces and cities were sacrificed to the pomp of a single day, 
and displayed to public view only to raise the vain admira- 
tion of a senseless populace, Avithout conducing to any real 
good. But there Avas something more lamentable in this 
procession or solemnity of religion than this. It was con- 
verted into a public school of intemperance and licentious- 
ness, calculated only to excite the most degrading passions in 
the spectators, and to induce an utter depravity of manners, 
by presenting to their view all the instruments of excess and 
debauch, with the most powerful allurements to indulge in 
them. And all this was done under the pretext of paying 
adoration to the gods ! How different from these are the so- 
lemnities of our most holy religion ! In them we discern 
nothing but Avhat is lovely and of good report, and that tends 
to purify the heart, and make holy the life of the worshipper. 
Truly, the religion of the blessed Saviour is of Divine 
origin. 

To the native Egyptians this pageant must have been pe- 
culiarly afflicting. They must have looked upon it as an in- 

16* 



186 mSTORV OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

suit to their native gods, as established upon their own ruin 
and as indicative of the ascendancy of that power which 
ruled over them — a power which they could never hope to 
subdue. So literally, even at this early date, was the inspired 
prophecy fulfilled. That the native Egyptians were an op- 
pressed people at this period, is evident from the number of 
foreigners who had taken up their abode there during the 
sway of the Persian empire, and the rule of Alexander and 
Ptolemy Soter. All places of trust Avere confided to foreign- 
ers ; for no more is heard of the rule of the priests, or the 
power of the Egyptian soldiery. Caste was broken down, 
and by this act they were humbled to the dust ; for caste was 
the glory of ancient Egypt. 

In the first year of the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
B. c. 284, which was also the first year of the 124th Olym- 
piad, the famous w'atch-tower in the isle of Pharos was com- 
pleted. This tower was usually called the tower of Pharos, 
and it has been reputed as one of the seven wonders of the 
world. It was a large square structure, built of white mar- 
ble, on the top of which a fire was kept continually burning, 
in order to guide ships onward in their course. The cost of 
its erection was 800 talents, which, estimated by Athenian 
money, according to Arbuthnot's calculation, are equal to 
200,000/. sterling, but if computed by the coin of Alexan- 
dria, nearly double that sum. The architect of the edifice 
was Sostra'tus, of Cnidus. • 

Ptolemy Philadelphus was a great encourager of learning, 
and a patron of learned men. About this time, ancient his- 
torians say that, under his auspices, was commenced that ex- 
cellent translation of the Old Testament into Greek, called 
the Septuagint, from the seventy, or seventy-two interpreters 
said to have been employed therein. The copy from whence 
it was taken, was furnished the king by Eleazer, the son of 
Simon the Just. It is probable that the version of the Pen- 
tateuch was first completed. A note at the close of the Book 
of Esther expressly states it was finished in the last year of 
Ptolemy Philometer, or b. c. 177. The whole was finished, 
according to the Rev. T. H. Home, about b. c. 170.* 

This was one of the best fruits of the Grecian conqu-'sts, 
and was, doubtless, comprehended in the design which God 
had in view, Avhen he delivered up the east to the Greeks, 

• For critical remarks on this fact, as laid down by ancient historians, 
the readcrnwy refer to "The Connexion of the Old and New TKSTi- 
MENT," puhlishc;! by R. Carter. 



HISTOilY Of THE EGYrXJANS. 187 

and supported them in those regions notwithstanding the di- 
visions and jealousies, the wars and the revolutions, that were 
constantly taking place among them, he brought about the 
union of so many nations, of different languages and man- 
ners, into one society, that the doctrines of revelation and the 
gospel of his dear Son might be afterwards promulgated 
among them, through the instrumentahty of one language ; 
and that language, the finest, most copious, and most correct, 
that ever was spoken in the world ; and that was so captiva- 
ting, that it became common to all countries conquered by 
Alexander. The way of salvation through faith in Christ 
Jesus, by this means, was made known to thousands who 
had hitherto sat in the shadow of the regions of death, and 
its hallowed effects are seen to the present moment. 

About this time, also, the image of the god Serapis was 
brought from Pontus to Alexandria. Ptolemy had been in- 
duced, by a dream, to demand it by an embassy, of the king 
of Sinope, a city of Pontus, in which it was kept. It was, 
however, refused him for the space of two years, till at 
length the inhabitants of Sinope, suffering from famine, bar- 
tered their god to Ptolemy for a supply of corn ! The sta- 
tue was conveyed to Alexandria, and placed in one of the 
suburbs called Rhacotis, where it was adored by the name 
of Serapis, and where a famous temple, called the Serapion, 
was afterAvards erected. This structure, according to Am- 
mianus Marcellinus, surpassed in beauty and magnificence 
all the temples in the world, except the Capitol at Rome. 

About the same tmie, e. c. 283, Ptolemy Soter, in conse- 
quence of the suggestions of Demetrius Phalereus, who had 
seen and profited by public libraries at Athens, founded the 
Alexandrian library, so famous in history. This library, ac- 
cording to Eusebius, contained 100,000 volumes at the death 
of Ptolemy Philadelphus. It was enlarged by succeeding 
princes sevenfold, so that it was necessary that a portion of 
it (300,000 volumes) should be deposited in the Serapion, for 
which reason it was called its daughter.* The library was 
burned when Cesar made war with Alexandria, but that part 

* It is to be recollected that the written rolls, vclumina spoken of, 
contained far less than a printed volume ; as, for instance, the M:tamor- 
phoscs of Ovid, in fifteen books, would make fifteen volumes, and one 
Didymus is said by Athenseus to have written 3,500 volumes. This 
consideration will bring the number assigned at least within the bounds 
of credibility. The books, moreover, were collected from all nations. There 
were those in the Jewish, Chaldean, Persian, Ethiopian and Egyptian lan- 
guages, etc., as well as in Greek and Latin. 



188 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

of it in the Serapion displayed its treasures till the seventh 
century, when it suffered the same fate as its parent, being 
burned by the Saracens. 

The circumstances attending its final destruction are wor- 
thy to be here recorded. John, surnamed the Grammarian, 
a famous follower of Aristotle, was at Alexandria when the 
city was taken, and as he was much esteemed by Amri Ab- 
nol, the general of the Saracen troops, he entreated that com- 
mander to bestow upon him the Alexandrian library. Amri 
replied, that it was not in his power to grant such a request ; 
but that he would write to the khalif for his orders respecting 
it. He accordingly wrote to the khalif, and his answer was, 
that if those books contained the same doctrine Avith the 
Koran, they could not be of any use, because the Koran was 
sufficient in itself, and comprehended all necessary truths ; 
but if they contained any doctrines contrary to that book, 
they ought to be destroyed. Upon this reply, they were all 
condemned to the flames, without any further examination, 
and they were distributed among the public baths, where, for 
the space of six months, they were used for fuel instead of 
wood. Thus were these stores of learning lost to the world 
for ever, through the blind ignorance of a bigoted follower 
of that arch impostor Mahomet. 

The museum of Cruchion was not, however, burned with 
the library attached to it. Strabo informs us that this was a 
large structure near the palace, and facing the port, and that 
it was surrounded with a portico, in which the philosophers 
walked. He adds, that the members of this society Avere go- 
verned by a president, whose station AA-as so honourable and 
important, that in the time of the Ptolemies, he AA'-as ahvays 
chosen by the king himself, and afterAvards by the Roman 
emperor ; and that the members had a hall, where the Avhole 
society ate at the expense of the public, by Avhom they Avere 
liberally supported. 

Alexandria AA^as indebted to this museum for the advantage 
it long enjoyed of being the greatest school in that part of 
the Avorld, and of having trained up members Avho excelled 
in literature. It is from thence, in particular, that the 
church has received some of its most illustrious doctors : as 
Clemens Alexandrinus, Ammonius, Origen, Anatolius, Atha- 
nasius, and many others, who studied in that seminary. It 
must, hoAvever, be remembered, that the instruction they re- 
ceived from their heathen teachers led them in many respects 
from the simplicity of the Christian faith, sd that their pro- 



HISTORY OF Till:: EGYPTIANS. ' ISO 

ductions are to be read with caution by the modern reader, 
as may be gathered from the life of Origen.* 

At the date of the death of Ptolemy Soter, b. c. 283, 
Ptolemy Philadelphus became sole master of all his domin- 
ions. These were Egypt, Phenecia, Ccelo-Syria, Arabia, 
Libya, Ethiopia, the island of Cyprus, Pamphylia, part of 
Cilicia, Lycia, and the isle denominated the Cyclades. 

One of his first acts after this event reflects great disgrace 
upon his character. It has been narrated, that Ptolemy Soter 
abdicated his throne in favour of Ptolemy Philadelphus, be- 
fore all his brethren. Before he did this, he consulted with 
Demetrius Phalereus, who was a verj'' learned man, and pro- 
bably the first president of the academy at Alexandria, with 
whom he was wont to advise before all his counsellors. De- 
metrius advised him to regulate his choice by the order pre- 
scribed by nature, which was generally followed by all other 
nations; thus advising him to prefer his eldest son, Ptolemy 
Ceraunus, by Eurydice his first wife. Ptolemy Philadel- 
phus seems to have taken umbrage at Demetrius Phalereus 
for this, and to have resolved upon revenge the first opportu- 
nity. As soon, therefore, as he saw himself sole master of 
the kingdom, he caused that philosopher to be seized, and 
sent him with a strong guard to a remote fortress, where he 
ordered him to be confined, till he should determine in what 
manner to treat him. This was soon resolved upon. The 
bite of an aspic put a period to the life of that great man, a 
man who merited, says the ancient historian, a better fate. 

Nothing is recorded of Ptolemy Philadelphus after this 
dark deed till about b. c. 274, at which date the reputation of 
the Romans having spread to distant lands, through the war 
they had maintained against Pyrrhus king of Epirus, he sent 
ambassadors to desire their friendship. The Romans were 
pleased at this circumstance, and the next year they sent an 
embassy from Rome to Egypt to return these civilities. The am- 
bassadors were, Q,. Fabius Gurges, Cn. Fabius Pictor, with 
Numerius his brother, and Q,. Olgunius. These men displayed 
while in Egypt pure disinterestedness, and a greatness of 
mind which is rarely discovered among the moderns. Ptole- 
my gave them a splendid entertainment, and took that oppor- 
tunity of presenting each of them with a crown of gold, 
which they received out of courtesy ; but the next morning 
they placed them on the head of the king's statues erected in 

♦Published by the Religious Tract Society. 



190 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the public squares of the city. The king having likewise be- 
stowed very considerable presents at their audience of leave, 
they received them, but before they went to the senate to give 
an account of their embassy, after their arrival at Rome, they 
deposited all these presents in the public treasury ; thus testi- 
fying that persons of honour ought, when they serve the pub- 
lic, to seek the public good, rather than their own advantage. 

About the year b. c. 268, Ptolemy Philadelphus sent a 
fleet to assist the Lacedemonians against Antigonus Gonatas 
king of Macedonia. The next year he was perplexed by a 
revolt excited in Egypt, as related by Pausanias, by a prince 
from whom he had reason to expect better things. Magas, 
governor of Cyrenaica and Libya, having set up the standard 
of rebellion against Ptolemy his master and benefactor, 
caused himself to be proclaimed king of those provinces. 
Ptolemy and Magas were brothers by the same mother ; the 
latter being the son of Berenice and Philip, a Macedonian 
officer, who was her husband before she married Ptolemy 
Soter. Her solicitations, therefore, obtained for him this gov- 
ernment when she was advanced to the honours of a crown, 
upon the death of Ophelias. Magas had so well established 
himself in his government by long possession, and by his 
marriage with Apame, the daughter of Antiochus Soter king 
of Sja'ia, that he endeavoured to render himself independent ; 
and as ambition knows no bounds, he resolved to go a step 
farther. He was not content with wresting from his brother 
these two provinces, but he formed a resolution to dethrone 
him. With this vieAvhe advanced into Egypt at the head of 
a great army, and in his march towards Alexandria, made 
himself master of Partetonium, a city of Marmarica. 

But the mischief he designed for others awaited him in his 
own provinces. He received intelligence of the revolt of the 
MarmaridcB in Libya, and he returned in order to quell these 
disturbances. Ptolemy, who had marched an army to the 
frontiers of Egypt, had now a favourable opportunity of attack- 
ing him in his retreat, and of annihilating his troops ; but a 
new danger called him likewise to another quarter. A con- 
spiracy was formed against him by 4,000 Gauls, mercenaries, 
Avho resolved to drive him out of Egypt and seize it for them- 
selves. In order, therefore, to frustrate their design, he found 
himself compelled to return into Egypt, where he drew the 
conspirators into an island in the Nile, in which they perished 
by famine and their own swords. 

As soon as he had calmed the troubles Avhich occasioned 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 191 

ills return, Magas renewed his designs on Egypt, and he en- 
gaged his father-in-law, Antiochus Soter, to enter into his plan. 
It was resolved that Antiochus should attack Ptolemy on one 
side, while Magas invaded him on the other ; hut Ptolemy, 
who possessed secret intelligence of the treaty, anticipated 
Antiochus in his designs, and gave him so much employment 
in his maritime provinces, by repeated descents, and the de- 
vastation made by the troops he sent into those parts, that this 
prince was obliged to continue in his own dominions ; and 
Magas desisted from carrying his designs into effect. 

About B. c. 267, Ptolemy conceived an expedient to draw 
into Egypt all the maritime commerce of the east, which till 
then had been in possession of the Tyrians, who transacted it 
by sea as far as Elath, and from thence by land to Rhinoco- 
rura, and from this place by sea again to the city of Tyre. 
Elath and Rhinocorura were two sea-ports ; the first on the 
eastern shore of the Red Sea ; the second at the extremity of 
the Mediterranean, between Egypt and Palestine, and near 
the mouths of the river of Egjrpt. 

In order to effect this design, Ptolemy thought it necessary 
to found a city on the western shore of the Red Sea, from 
Avhence the ships were to sail. He accordingly built one 
ahnost on the frontier of Ethiopia, and he gave it the name 
of his mother, Berenice. This port, however, was not very 
commodious, and that of Myos Hormos was eventually pre- 
ferred before it. At this port the treasures of Arabia, India, 
Persia, and Ethiopia were landed, and from thence they were 
carried on camels to Coptus, where they were again shipped 
and brought down the Nile to Alexandria, which transmitted 
them to all the west in exchange for merchandize, afterwards 
exported to the east. 

The passage from Coptus to the Red Sea lay across the 
deserts, where no water could be procured, and which had 
neither cities nor houses to lodge the caravans. Ptolemy 
remedied this inconvenience by causing a canal to be opened 
along the great road from the Nile, on the edge of which 
houses were erected, at stated distances, for the reception and 
accommodation of man and beast. 

These were useful labours, but Ptolemy did not deem them 
sufficient for the accomplishment of his design. He con- 
sidered that protection was required, and accordingly he 
fitted out two fleets, one for the Red Sea, and the other for 
the Mediterranean. This latter is mentioned by Theocritus 



192 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 



in his Idyllium, entitled Ptolemy, as being magnificent. He 

s«j^s, 

" E'en lesser Asia and her isles grew pale, 

As o'er the billows passed her crowd of saH."— Idyll, xvii. 

Some of the vessels of which it was composed were very large ; 
two of them, in particular, had thirty benches of oars ; one, 
twenty : four rowed with fourteen ; two with twelve ; four- 
teen with eleven; thirty with nine; thirty-seven with seven; 
five with six ; and seventeen with five. There were many 
more with four and three benches of oars, besides a number 
of small vessels. With this fleet, he not only protected his 
commerce, but kept in subjection most of the maritime pro- 
vinces of Asia Minor, as Cilicia, Pamphyha, Lycia, and 
Caria, as far as the Cjxlades. 

At this period, about b. c. 258, Magas, king of Cyrene and 
Libya, growing aged and infirm, caused overtures of accom- 
modation to be tendered to his brother Ptolemy, with the pro- 
posal of a marriage between Berenice, his only daughter, and 
the .eldest son of the king of Egypt, and a promise to give her 
his dominions for a dowry. The negotiation succeeded, and 
a peace was concluded on these terms. Before this treaty was 
executed, however, Magas died, and his widow Apame, 
whom Justin calls Arsinoe, resolved to break off" her daugh- 
ter's marriage with the son of Ptolemy, as it had been con- 
cluded against her consent. With this view, she employed 
persons in Macedonia to invite Demetrius, the uncle of Anti- 
gonus Gonatus, to come to her court, assuring him that her 
daughter and crown should be his. Demetrius accordingly 
came, but as soon as Apfeme beheld him, she conceived a vio- 
lent passion for him, and resolved to espouse him herself 
Demetrius was, however, afterwards slain by a conspiracy in 
which Berenice herself took part ; after which she went to 
Egypt, where her marriage with Ptolemy was completed, and 
Apame was sent to her brother Antiochus Theos, in Syria. 

Through the influence of this princess, Antiochus Theos 
proclaimed war against Ptolemy, b. c. 256, which continued 
its ravages a long while, and was productive of fatal conse- 
quences to the aggressor. During the next year, the con- 
tending armies met, but history has not preserved the particu- 
lars of what passed in this and several succeeding campaigns. 
In the mean time, notwithstanding the war, Ptolemy was 
intent upon enlarging his library. He Avas continually en- 
riching it with new books: and he added also to it paintings 



fll^^TORY DF TtlF. Ki';VPTI.\.N'S. 193 

and designs by the best masters. Aratus, the famous Sicyo- 
jaian, was one of those who collected for him in Greece, and 
he so pleased Ptolemy, that he presented him with twenty-five 
talents, which he expended in the relief of the necessitous 
Sicyonians, and the redemption of such as were detained in 
captivity — a noble act and one that would put many professed 
Christians to the blush, if compared with their acts of benevo- 
lence. 

But while Antiochus was employed in war with Egypt, a 
formidable insurrection in the east made him desirous of end- 
ing the Avar with Ptolemy. Accordingly, b. c. 249, a treaty 
of peaiie was concluded between them. The conditions of 
this treaty were, that Antiochus should divorce Laodice, and 
espouse Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy; and that he 
should also disinherit his issue by the first marriage, and se- 
cure the crown to his children by the second. This treaty 
,vas put into effect. After it was concluded, Airtiochus repu- 
diated Laodice, and Ptolemy then embarked at Pelusium, and 
conducted his daughter to Seleucia, a maritime city, near the 
mouth of the Orontes, a river of Syria, where the nuptials 
were solemnized with great magnificence. 

Ptolemy appears to have had a great affection for his 
daughter ; for he gave orders to have regular supplies of wa- 
ter from the Nile transmitted to her, believing it more condu- 
cive to health than any other water in the world, as noticed 
Oefore. 

It has been said, when marriages are contracted from no 
other motives than political views, and are founded on such 
unjust conditions, they are generally attended with calamitous 
and fatal events. Thus it was with this union ; and yet it was 
ordained of Heaven that it should be — a striking proof that 
God ruleth in the earth, and that no events occur without His 
permission. 

To this treaty and this marriage, there is allusion in the 
prophetic writings Daniel. After having explained the 
overthrow of the Persian empire, under Darius Codomanuus, 
the. last king, by Alexander the Great; and the division of 
his empire among his four generals, Dan. xi. 2 — 4, the pro- 
phet proceeds to notice the wars of the kings of the north and 
south, or Syria and Egypt, (ver. 5 ;) after which he says, 
" And in the end of [several] years they [the kings of the 
south and of the north] shall join themselves together, [by 
marriage ;] for [Berenice] the king's daughter of the south 
[Egypt] shall come to fhe king of the north [Syria] to make 

yoL. I. 17 



194 HISTORY OF xrii" i:GYrT;/i.Y.5. 

in agreement ; but she shall not regain the power of the arm, 
[or her interests v/ith Antiochus, who after some time brnughi 
back his former wife, Laodice, and her children, to court :] 
neither shall lie [Antiochus] stand, nor his arm, [for he was 
poisoned:] but she [Berenice] shall be given up, and they 
that brought her, [her Egyptian attendants,] and he that begat 
her, and he that strengthened her in these times," [her father, 
Philadelphus, who died shortly before,] ver. 6. 

The prophet in these two latter verses, and throughout the 
remaining part of this chapter, confines himself to the kings 
of Egypt and Syria, because they Avere the only princes who 
engaged in war against the people of God. This will obtain 
more ample notice hereafter. But we would here direct the 
reader's attention to the strong testimony that this fact in 
ancient history bears to the Divine origin of Scripture. The 
prediction was uttered nearly three hundred years before the 
event: Avhat hand, then, but that of an Almighty Being, 
could have caused so many different views, intrigues, and. 
passions, to tend to the same point ? What knowledge but 
that of Omniscience could with so much certainty have fore- 
seen such a variety of distinct circumstances, subject, not only 
to the freedom of man's will, but to his wild caprice ? Reader, 
reflect upon this, and adore that sovereign power v/hich God 
exercises, secretly indeed, but not less certainly, over kings 
and princes, whose very crimes he renders subservient to the 
execution of his holy will and pleasure, and the accomplish- 
ment of his immutable decrees. 

During the time that Ptolemy continued in Syria, he was 
presented with a statue of Diana, which he admired, and which 
he carried into Egypt on his return. This gave rise to an 
incident, as related by Libanius, which shows the debasing 
superstition and idolatry of that age. He says, that some 
time after the return of Ptolemy, his wife Arsinoe was seized 
with indisposition, and dreamed that Diana appeared to her, 
acquainting her that Ptolemy was the occasion of her illness, 
by his having taken her statue out of the temple where it was 
consecrated to her divinity. Upon this, the statue was imme- 
diately sent back to Syria, in order to be replaced in the tem- 
ple whence it was taken. It was also accompanied Avitli rich 
presents to the goddess, and a variety of sacrifices were offered 
up to appease the angry divinity. But they had no such 
effect. The disorder of the queen was so far from abating, 
that she died the same year, n. c. 248, leaving Ptolemy in- 
consolable at her loss. His grief, it is said, was Heightened 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 195 

by the reflection of liis having removed the statue of Diana 
out of the temple, to which he imputed her death. 

Though Arsinoe was older than Ptolemy, he retained a 
constant and tender affection for her to the last ; and at her 
death, he rendered all imaginable honours to her memory. 
He gave her name to several cities, and by many remarkable 
actions testified his affectionate regard for her. Pliny states, 
that he formed a design of erecting a temple to her memory, 
with a dome rising above it, the concave part of which was to 
be lined with adamant, in order to keep an iron statue of the 
queen suspended in the air. This design was the invention 
of Dinocrates, a famous architect of antiquity ; and the mo- 
ment he proposed it to Ptolemy, orders were given to com- 
mence the work. But the project failed, for Ptolemy and 
the architect died within a short time after it was resolved 
upon. 

Ptolemy Philadelphus survived his beloved Arsinoe but a 
short period. He was naturally, says Athenseus, of a tender 
constitution, and the luxurious life he led contributed to the 
decay of health. His affliction, also, for the loss of his con- 
sort, seemed to hasten his end. He died, b. c. 247, in the 
sixty-third year of his age, and the thirty-eighth of his reign. 

Although this prince had many excellent qualities, he can- 
not be proposed as a model of a good king. His resentment 
against Demetrius Phalereus will ever remain as a stain upon 
his character ; and the luxuries and effeminate pleasures (the 
usual concomitants of such high fortunes) in which he in- 
dulged to excess, do not evince a noble mind. Nevertheless, 
his love of the arts and sciences, and his generosity to learned 
men, reflect no small honour upon his memory. The fame 
of these liberalities brought several illustrious poets to his 
court, among whom we may enumerate Callimachus, Ly- 
cophron, and Theocritus, the latter of whom celebrated Pto- 
lemy's- fame in his poems. His taste for books has been 
noticed : he also always retained a peculiar taste for the 
sciences, and in order to perpetuate it among his subjects, he 
erected public schools and academies at Alexandria, where 
they flourished for many ages. He loved to converse with 
men of learning, and as the greatest masters in every kind of 
science were emulous to obtain his favour, he possessed an 
enviable advantage of obtaining wisdom. Happy are those 
princes who follow his footsteps in this particular, who know 
how to use the opportunity of acquiring, in agreeable conver- 



196 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

sations, knowledge whereby they may learn how to govern a 
people wisely. 

The intercourse of Philadelphus with learned men, and his 
care to give due honour to the arts, may be considered as the 
source of those measures he pursued, to make commerce 
flourish in his dominions, in which he so happily succeeded, 
as his history testifies. It has been already observed, that he 
built cities in order to protect and facilitate trafhc ; that he 
opened a canal through the arid desert ; and that he main- 
tained a navy in each of the two seas, merely for the defence 
of his merchants. His principal aim was to secure to strangers 
safety, convenience, and freedom in his ports, without fetter- 
ing trade, or endeavouring to turn it from its proper channel, 
in order to make it subservient to his own interest. He was 
persuaded that commerce resembled those springs that cease 
to flow when diverted from their natural course. 

These were views worthy of a great prince, and a consum- 
mate politician ; and their effects Avere highly beneficial to his 
kingdom. Their effects have, indeed, continued to the pre- 
sent day, strengthened by the principles of the first establish- 
ment, after a duration of above two thousand years ; pouring 
a perpetual flow of new riches, and new commodities of every 
kind into all nations ; drawing continually from them a return 
of voluntary contributions; uniting the east and west by the 
mutual supply of their respective wants ; and establishing on 
this basis a commerce that has supported itself from age to 
age without interruption. Conquerors and heroes, whom the 
world has applauded so much, have scarcely left behind them 
any traces of the acquisitions they have made for aggrandizing 
their empires ; or, if they have, the revolutions to which the 
most potent states are subject, divest them of their conquests 
in a few short years, and transfer them to others. On the 
contrary, the commerce of Egypt, established thus by Phila- 
delphus, instead of being shaken by time, has rather increased 
through a long succession of ages, and become daily more 
useful to all nations. If we trace commerce, therefore, up to 
its true source, we shall be sensible that this prince was not 
only the benefactor of Egypt, but of mankind in general, to 
the latest posterity. About this epoch we may, at least, date 
the extension of that trade with India, by Avhich the products 
of the great Asiatic peninsula, and of Ceylon, were more 
generally diffused over the western world. The origin of the 
trade between the Indian peninsula and Arabia and Eastern 
Africa, belongs to a period anterior to any history ; and this com- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 197 

merce has probably never been totally interrupted at any period 
since its commencement. That the coast of Africa had been 
navigated long before this, may be seen in the history of the 
Carthaginians, vi^here it is stated that Hanno explored its 
western coasts, and, according to Dr. Vincent, as far as Q,uiloa 
on the southern coast. 

The most essential duty of kings, and the most grateful 
pleasure they can enjoy, amidst the splendours of a throne, is 
to gain the love of mankind, by making their goverment de- 
sirable. This appears to have been the policy of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus. He was sensible that the only expedient for 
extending his dominions without any act of violence, was to 
multiply his subjects, and attach them to his government by 
their interest and inclination ; to cause the land to be culti- 
vated ; to make arts and manufactures flourish ; and to aug- 
ment, by judicious measures, the power of a prince and his 
kingdom, whose strength, humanly speaking, consists in the 
multitude of his subjects. Hence it was, that so many from 
different nations transplanted themselves into Egypt during his 
reign, preferring a residence in a foreign land to their native 
soil. This is a favourable trait in the character of this prince, 
and cannot be too closely imitated by those who bear rule 
among the nations of the earth. 

Ptolemy Philadelphus was succeeded in his kingdom by 
his eldest son, 

PTOLEMT EUERGETES. 

The first act of Ptolemy Euergetes, was to revenge the 
wrongs of his sister. This princess had been repudiated by 
Antiochus Theos as soon as he heard of the death of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, and Laodice and her children had been re- 
called to his court. Laodice caused Antiochus to be poisoned, 
and she concerted measures with Seleucus Calhnicus, her son, 
who had ascended his father's throne, to destroy Berenice and 
her son also. But Berenice being informed of their design, 
escaped with her son to Daphne, where she shut herself up 
in the asylum built by Seleucus Nicator. Thither Ptolemy 
Euergetes hastened, but before he arrived, Berenice had been 
betrayed by the perfidy of those who besieged her in her 
place of retreat, and had been murdered, with her son, and 
all her Egyptian attendants, by order of Laodice. 

The cities of Asia Minor, touched Avith pity at the misfor- 
tunes of Berenice, had also sent a body of troops to her relief. 

17* 



198 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

These now. joined those of Egypt, and Ptolemy, who com 
manded the whole army, made war upon Seleucus Callinicus. 
He soon had his revenge. The criminal proceeding of Lao- 
dice, and of Seleucus, had alienated the affection of the people 
from them ; and Ptolemy not only caused Laodice to suffer 
death, but made himself master of all Syria and Cilicia ; after 
which he passed the Euphrates, and conquered all the country 
as far as Babylon and the Tigris. If the progress of his arms 
had not been interrupted by a sedition, which obliged him to 
return to Egypt, it is probable he would have subdued all the 
provinces of the Syrian empire. He left Antiochus, one of 
the generals, to govern the provinces he had gained on this 
side of Mount Taurus, and Xanthippus was intrusted with 
those that lay beyond it. Ptolemy then marched back to 
Egypt laden with the spoils he had acquired by his conquests. 
These events occurred b. c. 246. 

The spoils which Ptolemy collected in this expedition were 
40,000 talents of silver, (about six million pounds sterling,) a 
large quantity of gold and silver vessels, and 2,500 statues. 
Part of these statues were Egyptian idols, which Cambyses, 
after his conquest of that kingdom, had transported into 
Persia ; and Ptolemy gained the affections of his subjects by 
replacing them in their ancient temples. The Egyptians, 
mdeed, who were more devoted to their superstitious idolatry 
.than the rest of mankind, thought they could not sufficiently 
e.\;press their gratitude and veneration to Ptolemy for the res- 
toration of their gods. They gave him the title of Euergetes, 
which signifies " a benefactor," as a token of their gratitude ; 
a tittle which it were to be wished he had merited by some 
nobler action than the perpetuating idolatry, since it is infi- 
nitely preferable to all appellations which conquerors have 
assumed from a false idea of glorj^ 

It may here be observed, that all the facts that have been 
related proved an exact accomplishment of what the prophet 
Daniel had foretold. Foreseeing the result of the marriage 
of the "daughter of the south," with "the king of the north," 
as before noticed, he says of the former. " But she shall not 
I'etain the power of the arm ; neither shall he stand, nor his 
arm : but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, 
and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these 
times." He discovered that the issue of this princess, not- 
withstanding all the express precautions in the treaty for 
securing their succession to the crown, in the exclusion of the 
children by a former marriage, were so far from ascending 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 199 

the throne, that they were entii'ely exterminated ; and that 
the new queen herself was delivered up to her rival, who 
caused her to be destroyed with all her officers who had con- 
ducted her out of Egypt and Syria, and who, till then, had 
been her strength and support. 

The prophet next describes the conquests of Euergetes : 
" But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his 
estate [her brother, Euergetes,] which shall come with an 
army, and shall enter into the fortress [or the fenced cities] of 
the king of the north, and shall deal against them and shall 
prevail : and shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, 
with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver 
and of gold ; and he shall continue more years than the king 
of the north. So the king of the south shall come into his 
kingdom, [that is, the kingdom of Seleucus of the north,] and 
shall return into his own land," [into Egypt,] Dan. xi. 7 — 9. 

The remarkable precision with which this prediction was 
accomplished cannot fail to strike every reader. Porphyry 
has, indeed, discerned the resemblance betAveen the predic- 
tion and the accomplishment, and, strange to relate, at the ex- 
pense of truth, he has asserted that the prophecy was written 
after the several events to which it refers had occurred ; to 
such miserable artifices will the infidel resort, in order to fal- 
sify God's holy word. But all his endeavours are vain. 

" All flesh is grass, 
And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : 
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : 
Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it : 
Surely the people is grass. 
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : 
But the word of our God shall stand for ever." — Isa. xl. 6 — 8. 

To return to the narrative. When Ptolemy Euergetes set 
out on this expedition, his queen Berenice, being apprehen- 
sive of the dangers to which he would be exposed in the war, 
made a vow to consecrate her hair if he should return in 
safety. This was a sacrifice of no mean kind, since it was 
esteemed by all ancient nations before all other personal or- 
naments. Accordingly, v/hen she saw him return, her firsts 
care was the accomplishment of her promise. She caused 
her hair to be cut off, and then dedicated it to the gods, in 
the temple which Ptolemy Philadelphus had founded in ho- 
nour of his beloved Arsinoe, on Zephyrion, a promontory in 
Cyprus, under the name of the Zephyrian Venus. This 
consecrated hair was lost soon after, and Ptolemy was ex- 



200 HISTOB-Y OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

tremely oifended with the priests for their negligence : upon 
which Conon of Samos, who was then at Alexandria, being 
an artful courtier, took upon him to affirm that the locks of 
the queen's hair had been conveyed to heaven ; and pointed 
out seven stars near the lion's tail, which till then had never 
formed part of any constellation ; declaring, at the same 
time, that those were the hair of Berenice. Several other 
astronomers, either to make their court as well as Conon, or 
that they might not draw upon themselves the displeasure of 
Ptolemy, gave those stars the name of Berenice's hair, by 
which they are known to this day. 

On his return from this expedition, Ptolemy passed through 
Jerusalem, where he offered a great number of sacrifices to 
the God of Israel, in order to render homage to him, for the 
victories he had obtained over the king of Syria ; by which 
action he discovered his preference of the true God to all the 
idols of Egypt. Some have supposed that the prophecies of 
Daniel were shown to that prince, and that he might have 
concluded from thence, that his conquest and successes were 
owing to that God who had revealed them to his prophets. 

In the extremities to which Seleucus was reduced, he 
made application to his brother Antiochus, whom he pro- 
mised to invest with the sovereignty of the provinces of Asia 
Minor, if he would act in concert with him against Ptolemy. 
This young prince was then at the head of an army in those 
provinces ; and though he was but fourteen years of age, 
yet, according to Justin, he had all the ambition and maligni- 
ty of mind that appear in maturer years. He immediately 
accepted the offers made to him, and advanced in quest of 
his brother ; not Avith any intention to secure to him the en- 
joyment of his dominions, but to seize them for himself The 
avidity of this young prince was, indeed, so great, that he 
acquired the surname of Hierax, which signifies "a kite," 
the peculiar characteristic of which bird is, that it is read)/ 
to seize upon every thing within the range -of its flight. 

This alliance occurred b. c. 244. The next year, Ptolemy 
receiving intelligence that Antiochus was preparing to act in 
concert with Seleucus against him, reconciled himself with 
the latter, and concluded a truce with him for ten years, that 
he might not be at war with both these princes at the same 
time. 

From the time of his concluding the peace with Seleucus, 
he seems to have made it his principal care to extend his do 
minions to the south. Accordingly, before his death, he had 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 201 

extended it the Avhole length of the Red Sea, as well along 
the Arabian, as the Ethiopian coast, and even to the Straits of 
Babelmandel, which form a coinmunication with the southern 
ocean. 

Ptolemy devoted the time of peace to the cultivation of the 
sciences in his dominions, and the enlargement of his fa- 
ther's library at Alexandria ; but as a proper collection of 
books could not be made without a librarian, Euergetes, upon 
the death of Zenodotus, who had held the office from the 
time of Ptolemy Soter, sent to Athens for Eratosthenes, the 
Cyrenian, who was then in great esteem for learning, and 
who had been educated by Callimachus. Eratosthenes was 
a man of universal learning ; but none of his works have 
reached our days, except his catalogue of the kings of 
Thebes, with the years of their respective reigns, from Menes, 
or Misraim, who first peopled Egypt after the deluge, to the 
Trojan war. This catalogue contains a succession of thirty- 
eight kings, and is still to be seen in Syncellus. 

In the year b, c. 233, the original manuscripts of ^schy- 
lus, Euripides, and Sophocles, were lent to Ptolemy Euer- 
getes on a pledge of fifteen talents. 

The same j-ear, Onias, the high priest of the JeAvs, having 
neglected to send to Egypt the usual tribute of twenty ta- 
lents, which his predecessors had always paid to the kings of 
that country, Ptolemy sent Athenion, one of his courtiers, to 
Jerusalem, to demand the payment of the arrears, which then 
amounted to a large sum ; and to threaten the Jews, in case 
of refusal, with a body of troops, who should be commissioned 
to expel them from their country, and divide it among 
themselves. This caused great alarm at Jerusalem, and it 
was deemed necessary to send a deputation to the king, in 
the person of Joseph, the nephew of Onias, who, though in 
the prime of his youth, was universally esteemed for his 
prudence, probity, and justice. Athenion, during his con- 
tinuance at Jerusalem, had conceived a great regard for his 
character, and as he set out for Egypt before him, he pro- 
mised to render him all the good offices in his power with 
the king. Joseph followed him soon after. On his way 
thither, he met with several of the most considerable persons 
of Ccelo-Syria and Palestine; who were also going to Egypt 
with an intention of offering terms for farming the great re- 
venues of those provinces. As the equipage of Joseph was 
less magnificent than theirs, they treated him with disrespect, 
and considered him as a person of little note. Joseph con- 



•202 lUbTonyr of the Egyptians. 

cealed his dissatisfaction at their behaviour ; but he drew 
from the conversation that passed between them all the infor- 
mation he could wish with relation to the afiairs that took 
them to court. 

When they arrived at Alexandria, they were informed 
that the king had gone to Memphis. Joseph immedi- 
ately repaired thither, and he met him as he was returning 
from Memphis, with the queen and Athenion in his chariot. 
The king, who had been prepossessed in his favour by Athe- 
nion, was pleased to see him, and invited him into his cha- 
riot. Joseph, to excuse his uncle, represented the infirmities 
of his great age, and the natural tardiness of his disposition, 
in such an engaging manner, as satisfied Ptolemy, and crea- 
ted in him a high esteem for the able advocate of the high 
priest. He ordered Joseph an apartment in the royal palace 
of Alexandria, and allowed him a place at his table. 

When the day arrived for purchasing, by a sort of auc- 
tion, the privilege of farming the revenues of the provinces, 
the companions of Joseph, in his journey to Egypt, ofiered 
8,000 talents only for the provinces of Ccslo-Syria, Phenicia, 
Judea and Samaria. Joseph, who had discovered in the con- 
versation that passed between them in his presence, that this 
purchase was v.^orth double the sum they offered, reproached 
them for depreciating the king's revenues, and offered 16,000 
talents. Ptolemy was well pleased to hear of his revenues 
being so much increased, but being apprehensive that the 
person who proffered so large a sum would not be able to 
pay it, he asked Joseph what security he would give him for 
the performance of the agreement. Joseph calmly replied, 
that he had such persons to offer for his security on that oc- 
casion as he was certain his majesty could have no objection 
to. Upon being ordered to mention them, he named the 
king and queen themselves, adding, that they Avould be his 
securities to eacli other. The king could not avoid smiling 
at this pleasantry, and he allowed him to farm the revenues 
without any other security than his verbal promise for pay- 
ment. Nor was his confidence abused. Joseph acted in 
that station for the space of ten years, to the ii:iutual satisfac- 
tion of the court and provinces. 

In the year b. c. 222, Ptolemy entertained Cleomenes the 
Spartan, who had been driven from his throne by Antigonus. 
He gave that prince repeated assurances, indeed, that he 
would send him into Greece Avith a fleet and a supply of mo- 
ney, and would re-establish him on hi? ihrone. The next 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 208 

year, however, before his designs could be carried into exe- 
cution, Euergetes died, and Cleomenes found by experience 
how vain it was to trust in man. Truly wise is the advice 
of the psalmist, wherein he says : " Put not your trust in 
princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to the earth ; in that very 
day his thoughts perish," Psa. cxlvi. 3, 4. 

Ptolemy Euergetes had reigned twenty-five years. He 
was the last of the race of the Ptolemies, says Strabo, "in 
whom any true virtue and moderation shone forth ; the 
generality of his successors being monsters of debauchery 
and wickedness. He was succeeded on the throne of Egypt 
by his son, 

PTOLEMY PHLLOPATER. 

This prince plunged himself in the most abominable ex- 
cesses during the whole of his reign. The very commence- 
ment of it was marked by outrage and bloodshed. By some 
historians he is said to have poisoned his father, whence he 
received the surname of Philopater, by antiphrasis, that word 
signifying, " a lover of his father." He received the name 
of Tryphon from his extravagance and debauchery ; and 
that of Gallus, because he appeared in the streets of Alexan- 
dria like one of the bacchanals, and with all the wild ges- 
tures of the priests of Cybele.* 

In the early part of his reign, a. c. 220, Ptolemy commit- 
ted a gross act of injustice and cruelty upon the person of 
Cleomenes. That prince still continued in Egypt ; but as 
Ptolemy regarded nothing but pleasures and excesses of 
every kind, he led a very solitary life. At first, however, 
Ptolemy made use of Cleomenes. As he was afraid of his 
brother Magas, who on his mother's account had great autho- 
rity and power over the soldiery, he admitted Cleomenes into 
his most secret councils, in which means for getting rid of 
his brother were devised. Cleomenes was the only person 
who had moral rectitude enough to oppose the unnatural 
scheme ; declaring, that a king cannot have any ministers 
more zealous for his service, or more able to aid him in sus- 

* In the celebration of the festivals of Cybele, her priests imitated the 
manners of madmen, and filled the air with dreadfid shrieks and bowl- 
ings, mixed with the confused noise of drums, tabrets, bucklers, and 
spears. This was in commemoration of the sorrows of Cybele for the losa 
of her favourite Atys. 



204 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

taining the burden of government, than his brothers. This 
wise counsel prevailed for a moment ; but Ptolemy's suspi- 
cions soon returned, and he imagined there would be no 
other way to disperse them than by taking aAvay the life of 
him that occasioned them. Accordingly, he publicly caused 
Berenice his mother, and Magas, his brother, to be put to 
death. After this, says Plutarch, he thought himself secure, 
fondly concluding that he had no enemies to fear either at 
home or abroad ; because Antigonus and Seleucus at their 
death left no other successors but Philip and Antiochus, both 
of whom he despised on account of their tender age. In 
this security, he devoted himself to all kinds of pleasures, 
never interrupting them by cares or business. His very 
courtiers, and those who had employments in the state, dared 
not approach him, and he would scarcely deign to bestow 
the least attention on Avhat occurred in the neighbouring 
kingdoms. 

With such dispositions, it can readily be imagined that he 
had no great esteem for Cleomenes. This was manifested by 
his conduct. The instant the latter heard of the death of 
Antigonus, that the Achaaans Avere engaged in a war with 
the jEtolians, that the Lacedemonians were united with tlie 
latter against the Achasans and Macedonians, and that all 
things conspired to recall him to his native country, he solic- 
ited leave to depart from Alexandria. At first he implored 
the king to favour him with troops and warlike stores suffi- 
cient for his return, and when he found that he could not 
obtain this request, he desired that he at least might be suffered 
to depart with his family, and be allowed to embrace the 
favourable opportunity of repossessing himself of his king- 
dom. But Ptolemy was too much engaged by his pleasures 
to lend an ear to the entreaties of Cleomenes. 

Sosibius, who at this time had great authority in the king- 
dom, and who ministered to the king's brutal pleasures, as- 
sembled his friends ; and in this council a resolution was 
formed not to furnish Cleomenes either with a fleet or pro- 
visions. They supposed such an expense would be useless ; 
for, from the death of Antigonus, all foreign aflliirs had 
seemed to them of small importance. This council were ap- 
prehensive, moreover, that as Antigonus was dead, and as 
there was none to oppose Cleomenes, that that prince, after 
having made a conquest of Greece, would become a formida- 
ble enemy to Egypt. And what increased their fears was, 
his having thoroughly studied the stale of the kingdcni, hia 



HISTOB.Y OF THE EGYPTIANS. '205 

knowing its weak points, his holding the king in sovereign 
contempt, and seeing many parts of the kingdom separated 
and at a great distance, Avhich an enemy might have many 
opportunities of invading. For these reasons, it was deemed 
politic not to grant Cleomenes the aid which he desired. And 
on the other side, to give so bold and enterprising a prince 
leave to depart, after having refused these succours, would be 
making an enemy, who would certainly one time or other 
resent the insult offered to him. Sosibius was therefore of 
opinion, that it was not safe to allow him to retire from, or 
even to allow him his liberty in Alexandria. A word which 
Cleomenes had previously uttered occurred to his memory, 
and confirmed him in this opinion. In a council, where 
Magas was the subject of the debate, the prime minister had 
signified his fears lest this prince should raise an insurrection 
by means of foreign soldiers. " I answer for them," says 
Cleomenes, speaking of those of Peloponnesus, "and you 
may depend, that upon the first signal I give, they will take 
up arms in your favour." This made Sosibius hesitate no 
longer. On a fictitious accusation, which he corroborated by 
a letter he himself had forged in the name of Cleomenes, he 
prevailed with the king to seize his person, and to imprison 
huTi in a secure place, where he might maintain him always 
in the manner he had hitherto done, with the liberty of seeing 
his friends, but not of going abroad with them. 

This treatment threw Cleomenes into the deepest affliction ; 
and as he did not perceive any end of his calamities, he 
formed a resolution, in concert with those friends who used 
to visit him, which despair only could suggest. This resolu- 
tion was, to repel the injustice of Ptolemy by force of arms ; 
to stir up his subjects against him ; to die a death worthy of 
Sparta ; and not to wait, as stalled victims, till it was deemed 
expedient they should be sacrificed. 

His friends having found means to get him forth from 
prison, they all ran in a body with drawn swords into the 
streets, exhorting and calling upon the populace to recover 
their liberty ; but no one joined them. They killed the gov- 
ernor of the city, and some noblemen who came to oppose 
them, and afterwards ran to the citadel with an intention of 
forcing the gates, and of setting the prisoners at liberty ; but 
they found it impracticable. Cleomenes noAv lost all hope. 
He ran up and down the city in despair, during which he 
was neither aided nor opposed by the citizens. When they, 
therefore, saw that it would be impossible for them to succeed 

VOL. I. 18 



206 HISTOCY OF THE EGITPTIANS. 

in their enterprise, they terminated it in a tragical manner : 
they ran upon each others' swords to avoid the infamy of pun- 
ishment. Ptolemy caused his body to he hanged on a cross, 
and he ordered his wife, children, and all the women who 
attended them, to be put to death. When that unhappy prin- 
cess was brought to the place of execution, the only favour 
she asked was, that she might die before her children. But 
this was denied her. Her maternal feelings were outraged by 
the sight of the death of her offspring, a sight more grievous 
to a mother than death itself After this she presented her 
own neck to the executioner, mournfully exclaiming, " Ah ! 
my dear children, to what a place did they come !" 

While this tragical scene was performing, Ptolemy was 
pursuing his guilty pleasures. But in the midst of his wild 
career, b. c. 219, he was called to war with Antiochus, king 
of Syria. Theodotus, the ^Etolian governor of Ccelo-Syria 
under Ptolemy, had repulsed that prince the year before, in a 
battle wherein he had displayed great fidelity and courage. 
The court of Egypt, however, was not satisfied with his ser- 
vices on that occasion. Those who governed the king, had 
expected greater results from his valour ; and were persuaded 
that it was in his power to have done something more. He 
was accordingly sent for to Alexandria, to give an account of 
his conduct, and his life was even threatened. After the rea- 
sons for his conduct were heard, however, he was acquitted, 
and sent back to his government. 

Theodotus could not forget the insult which had been offered 
to him by this unjust accusation : he was, indeed, so exasper- 
ated at the affront, that he resolved to revenge it. The luxury 
and effeminacy of the whole court, to which he had been an 
eye-witness, increased, also, his indignation and resentment. 
He could not endure the idea of being dependent on the ca- 
price of so base and contemptible a set of courtiers, and there- 
fore he resolved to find a sovereign more worthy of his servi- 
ces. Accordingly, he had no sooner returned to his govern- 
ment, than he seized upon the cities of Tyre and Ptolemais, 
declared for Antiochus, and despatched a courier to invite 
him thither. 

One of Ptolemy's generals, Nicolaus, though he was of the 
same country with Theodotus, would not desert Ptolemy, but 
preserved his fidelity to that prince. The moment, therefore, 
that Theodotus had taken Ptolemais, he besieged him in it, 
possessed himself of the passes of Mount Libanus, to stop the 
T>ro"-Tpss of Antiochus. who was advancing to fbr> lirl nf n^V.^a. 



IlisTOllY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 207 

dotus, and defended them to the last extremity. He was, 
howevei', finally obliged to abandon them, and Antiochus 
took possession of Tyre and Ptolemais. 

In these two cities were the stores which Ptolemy had laid 
up for the use of his army, with a fleet of forty sail. Antio- 
chus gave the command of these ships to Diognetus, his ad- 
miral, who was ordered to sail to Pelusium, whither the king- 
intended to march by land, with the view of invading Egypt 
on that side. Being informed, however, that this was the 
season in which the inhabitants used to lay the country under 
water, by opening the dykes of the Nile ; and consequently, 
that it would be impossible for him to advance into Egypt at 
that time, he abandoned the project, and employed his army 
in reducing the rest of Ccelo-Syria. He seized upon some 
fortresses, and others submitted to him ; and, at length, he 
possessed himself of Damascus, the capital of that province, 
after having deceived Dinonthe governor of it by a stratagem. 

The last action of this campaign was the seige of Dora, a 
maritime city in the neighbourhood of Mount Carmel. This 
place, which was strongly situated, had been so well fortified 
by Nicolaus, that it was impossible for Antiochus to reduce it. 
He was, therefore, forced to agree to a truce of four months, 
proposed to him in the name of Ptolemy ; and this served as 
an honourable pretence for marching back his army to Seleu- 
cia on the Orontes, where he put them into winter qxiarters. 
Theodotus was appointed by Antiochus governor of all the 
places he had conquered in this campaign. 

During the interval of this truce, a treaty was negotiated 
between the two crowns. The motive of both, however, in 
taking this step, was only to gain time. Ptolemy had occa- 
sion for this in order to make the necessary preparations for 
carrying on the war ; and Antiochus for reducing Achceus, 
who was endeavouring to dethrone him, and to dispossess 
him of all his dominions. 

In this treaty, the principal point was, to ascertain to whom 
Coelo-Syria, Phenicia, Judea, and Samaria had been given in 
the partition of Alexander the Great's empire. Ptolemy 
claimed themby virtue of their having been assigned by treaty 
to Ptolemy Soter, his grandfather. On the other side, Antio- 
chus pretended that they had been given to Seleucus Nicator, 
and therefore that they were his right, he being heir and suc- 
cessor of that king in the empire of Syria. Another difficulty 
embarrassed the commissioners. Ptolemy would have 
Achasus included in the treaty ; but Antiochus opposed this, 



208 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

alleging that it was infamous for a king like Ptolemy to es- 
pouse the quarrel of rebels, and countenance revolt. 

The period of the truce at length arrived, b. c. 218, and no- 
thing being concluded, recourse was had to arms. Nicolaus 
the .^tolian had given so many proofs of valour and fidelity 
in the last campaign, that Ptolemy gave him the command in 
chief of his army, and charged him with every thing relating 
to the service of the king in those provinces which were the 
occasion of the war. Perigenes, the admiral, put to sea with 
the fleet, in order to act against the enemy on that side. Ni- 
colaus appointed Gaza for the rendezvous of all his forces, 
whither all the provisions necessary for the campaign had 
been sent from Egypt. From thence he marched to Mount 
Libanus, where he seized all the passes between that chain of 
mountains and the sea, by which Antiochus was necessarily 
obliged to pass, hoping thereby to prevent his further pro- 
gress. 

Antiochus, on the other hand, made every preparation both 
by sea and land for a vigorous invasion. He headed his land 
forces himself, and gave the command of his fleet to Diogne- 
tus. Both fleets sailed along the coasts, and followed the ar- 
my, so that the naval as Avell as land forces met at the passes 
which Nicolaus had seized. Whilst Antiochus attacked Ni- 
colaus by land, the fleets also came to an engagement, so that 
the battle began by sea and land at the same time. At sea, 
neither party gained the superiority, but on land Nicolaus 
was overpowered. He was forced to retire to, Sidon, after 
losing 4,000 of his soldiers, who were either killed or taken 
prisoners. Perigenes followed him thither with the Egyp- 
tian fleet, and Antiochus pursued them to that city both by sea 
and land. He designed to besiege them there ; but he. found 
•that this would be attended with many difiiculties, because of 
the great number of troops in the city, and the quantity of 
provision and other necessaries laid up in store for them there. 
Instead, therefore, of besieging this city, he sent his fleet to 
Tyre, and marched into Galilee. After having made him- 
self master of it by the- capture of several cities, he passed the 
river .Jordan, entered Gilead, and possessed himself of all that 
part of the country formerly inhabited by the tribes of Reu- 
ben, Gad, -^nd the half tribe of Manasseh. 

The season was now too far advanced to prolong the cam- 
paign, for Avhich reason he returned by the river Jordan, left 
the government of Samaria to Hippolochus and Koreas, who 
had deserted Ptolemy's service, and gave llicm 5,000 men to 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 209 

keep it in subjection. He then marched back the rest of the 
forces to Ptolemais, where he put them into winter quarters. 

The campaign was opened in the spring b. c. 217. Ptole- 
my caused 70,000 foot, 5,000 horse, and seventy-three ele- 
phants to advance towards Pelusium. He placed himself at 
the head of these forces, and marched them through the 
deserts which divide Egypt from Palestine, and encamped at 
Raphia, between Rhinocorura and Gaza at the latter of which 
cities the two armies met. That of Antiochus was something 
more numerous than the other. His forces consisted of 
72,000 foot, 6,000 horse, and 102 elephants. He first en- 
camped within ten furlongs, and then within five of the ene- 
my. All the time they lay so near one another, there were 
perpetual skirmishes between the parties who went to fetch 
fresh water or to forage, as well as between individuals who 
wished to distinguish themselves by deeds of bravery. 

Theodotus the iEtolian, favoured by the darkness of the 
night, and accompanied by two accomplices, entered the camp 
of the Egyptians with a design of killing Ptolemy, and there- 
by, putting an end to the Avar. He was taken for an Egyp- 
tian, so that he met with no difficulty in approaching Ptole- 
my's tent. He entered the tent, but the king was not there. 
The rage of Theodotus, however, was so great, and he was so 
blinded by this mad principle, that he did not perceive it, and 
he killed the first physician in mistake for the monarch. He 
also wounded two other persons, and during the alarm which 
the attempt occasioned he escaped to his own camp. 

The two kings at length resolving to decide their quarrel, 
drew up their armies in battle array. They rode amongst 
their troops to animate them, and encourage them to behave 
valiantly. Arsinoe, the sister and wife of Ptolemy, was not 
content with exhorting the soldiers to behave manfully before 
the battle, but did not leave her husband-brother during the 
heat of the engagement. 

The issue of this engagement was, that Antiochus, at the 
head of his right wing, defeated the enemy's left. But whilst 
hurried on with rash ardour, he engaged too warmly in the 
pursuit. Ptolemy, who had been as successful in the other 
wing, charged the centre of the troops of Antiochus in flank, 
which was then exposed, and he broke it before it was pos- 
sible for that prince to come to its relief An old officer, 
watching the direction of the dust, concluded that the centre 
was defeated, and drew the attention of Antiochus to that point. 
He faced about that instant, but he came too late to amend 

18* 



210 HlSTOilV OF IHE liGYPTIANS. 

his fault, for his army was broken and put to flight. Anti- 
ochus himself was obliged to retreat. He retired to Raphia, 
and afterwards to Gaza, with the loss of 10,000 men killed, 
and 4,000 taken prisoners. Finally, finding it impossible for 
him to maintain himself in that country against Ptolemy, he . 
abandoned all his conquests, and retreated to Antioch with 
the remains of his army. 

The battle of Raphia was fought at the same time with that 
in which Hannibal defeated Flaminius the consul, on the 
banks of the lake Thrasymenus in Etruria. 

The inhabitants of Coelo-Syria and Palestine, having been 
long accustomed to the yoke of Egypt, were more attached to 
the Egyptians than to Antiochus ; hence, after his retreat, 
they submitted to Ptolemy with great cheerfulness. The 
court of the conqueror Avas soon croAvded with ambassadors 
from all the cities, and from Judea among the rest, to make 
their submission and to offer him presents. 

After receiving these ambassadors, Ptolemy made a pro- 
gress through his conquered provinces, and among other 
cities, he visited Jerusalem. We learn from the book of Mac- 
cabees that he Avent to the temple, and even offered sacrifices 
to the God of Israel ; making at the same time oblations and 
bestoAving considerable gifts. Not being satisfied however, 
Avith vieAving it from the outward court, beyond Avhich no 
Gentile Avas alloAved to go, he AA'as desirous to enter the sanc- 
tuary, and to go even as far as the Holy of Holies, to Avhich 
no one was alloAved access but the high priest, and that but 
once* every year, on the great day of expiation. See Heb. 
ix. 7 — 10. The report of this rash desire soon spread abroad, 
and it occasioned a great tumult". The high priest informed 
Ptolemy of the holiness of that place, and the express laAv of 
God, by Avhich all others AA^ere forbidden to enter it.f The 
priests and Levites, also, AAdth one accord, opposed his rash 

* That is, on not more than one day in the year. During that day, 
he entered four times : the first time to offer incense ; the second time, to 
sprinkle the blood of the bullock ; the third time, with the blood of the 
ofoat ; and the fourth time, to bring out the censer. If he entered a fifth 
time that day, it was considered that he was Avorthy of death. 

+ It was death for any one else, priest or layman, to enter the sanctuary. 

So carefully was this observed and provided for, that, to prevent its 
being necessary for any one to enter to bring out the body of the high 
priest in case he should die there before the Lord on the great day of sup- 
plication, a cord was fastened to lus foot, the end of Avhich Avas left 
beyond the veil. The Jews were always in fear lest the high priest 
should perish in performing the services of that great day. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 211 

design, and the people at large conjured him to lay it aside. 
Every place echoed with lamentations, occasioned by the idea 
of the profanation to which their temple would be exposed, 
and the multitude lifted up their hands to implore the interpo- 
sition of Heaven. This opposition, instead of prevailing with 
the king, only inflamed his curiosity the more. He forced 
his way as far as the second court ; but as he was preparing 
to enter the temple itself, he was struck with such terror that 
he was carried off half dead. After this, he left the city, 
highly exasperated against the Jewish nation, and threaten- 
ing it with vengeance. He kept his word. The following 
year, b. c. 216, he raised a cruel persecution, especially against 
the Jews of Alexandria, whom he endeavoured to reduce by 
force to worsliip idols. 

When Antiochus arrived in Antioch, he sent an embassy 
to Ptolemy, to sue for peace. The circumstances which 
prompted him to this were, his suspicions of the fidelity of his 
people, with whom his credit was lessened since his last de- 
feat, and his desire of checking the progress which Achceus 
was making in his dominions. To obviate these dangers, he 
invested his ambassador with powers to give up to Ptolemy 
the provinces of Ccelo-Syria and Palestine,* which were the 
subject of their contest. A truce was therefore agreed. upon 
for twelve months ; and before the expiration of that time, a 
peace was concluded on the offered terms. 

Ptolemy, who might have taken advantage of this victory, 
and probably have conquered all Syria, was desirous of put- 
ting an end to the war, that he might devote himself to his 
pleasures. His subjects, knowing his Avant of spirit and 
effeminacy, could not conceive how it had been possible for 
him to have been so successful ; and at the same time they 
were displeased at his having concluded a peace so readily. 
The discontent they conceived on this account was the chief 
source of the subsequent disorders in Egypt, which finally 
rose to an open rebellion ; so that Ptolemy, by endeavouring 
to avoid a foreign war, drew one upon himself in his own 
dominions. This occurred b. c. 215 ; and, according to Po- 
lybius, it occasioned a civil war ; but neither that author nor 
any other relates the particulars of that event. 

About B. c. 210, the Romans, according to Livy, sent de- 

* Coelo-Syria included that part of Syria which lies between the moun- 
tains Libanus and Anti-Libanus and Palestine, or the country which 
anciently was inherited by the Hebrewrs : the coast of these two provinces 
was what the Greeks called Phenicia. • 



212 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

puties to Ptolemy and Cleopatra, (the same queen before called 
Arsinoe,*) to renew their ancient friendship and alliance with 
Egypt. These carried, as a present to the king, a robe and 
purple tunic, with an ivory chair ; and to the queen, an em- 
broidered robe and a purple scarf, presents which bear testi- 
mony to the happy simplicity which prevailed among the Ro- 
mans at this period. 

During the ten succeeding years, after the signal victory 
which Philopater had obtained over Antiochus at Raphia, he 
abandoned himself to pleasures and excesses of every kind. 
Agathoclea his concubine, Agathocles her brother, and their 
mother, governed him entirely. All his time was spent in 
gaming, drinking, and the most infamous irregularities. 
His nights were passed in debauches, and his days in feasts 
and revels. Forgetting the duties and character of a king, 
instead of applying himself to the affairs of state, he valued 
himself upon presiding at concerts, and his skill in music. 
The women, Justin says, disposed of every thing. They con- 
ferred all employments and governments ; and no one had 
less authority in the kingdom than the king himself Sosi- 
bius, who had been in office during three reigns, was at the 
helm, and his experience had made him capable of the ad- 
ministration. He could not act indeed as he desired, but as 
the favourites would permit him ; and he was so servile and 
so wicked, that he paid blind obedience to the unjust com- 
mands of a corrupt prince and his unworthy minions. 

Arsinoe, it appears, had no power or authority at court 
during this period. The favourites and prime minister did 
not, indeed, show her the least respect ; and she was not 
patient enough to suffer every thing without murmuring. 
At length, the king and those who governed him greAV weary 
of her complaints, and they commanded Sosibius to rid them 
of her. The degenerate minister obeyed : for that purpose, 
he employed one Philaraimon, who, it has been conjectured, 
was experienced in' such barbarous deeds. 

This last base action drew xipon the head of Sosibius the 
vengeance of the people ; and their clamours were so loud, 
that he was obliged to quit his employment. He was suc- 
ceeded by Tlepolemus, a young man of quality, Avho had sig- 
nalized himself in the army by his valour and conduct ; and 

♦ Justin calls her Eurydice: if he is not in error, this queen had, 
therefore, three names — Arsinoe, Cleopatra, and Eurydice. Cleopatra 
was, however, a iinme roinimm to the queens of Egypt, as that of 
Ptolcmv was to tl\c kiji-^s. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 213 

who was chosen unanimously by the grand council held for 
the purpose of choosing a prime minister. Sosibius resigned 
to him the king's seal, which was the badge of his office. 
Tlepolemus performed the several functions of it, and go- 
verned all the affairs of the kingdom during the king's life. 
But though this was not long, he discovered that he had not 
all the qualifications necessary for so difficult a post. He 
had neither the experience, ability, nor application of his pre- 
decessor. As he had the administration of the finances, and 
disposed of all honours and dignities in the state, all the peo- 
ple were assiduous in making their court to him. He was 
extremely liberal ; but his bounty was bestowed without dis- 
cernment, and almost solely on those who shared in his plea- 
sures. The extravagant flatteries of those who crowded about 
his person made him fancy his talents superior to those of all 
other men : till at length he assumed haughty airs, abandoned 
himself, like his master, to luxury and profusion, and at last 
grew insupportable to all around him. 

In the mean time, Philopater was pursuing his guilty 
round of pleasure. But it has been well said by the poet, 
that, 

Death treads on pleasure's footsteps round the world, 
When pleasure treads the path which reason shuns, 
When against reason riot shuts the door, 
And luxury supplies the place of sense. — Dr. Young. 

Before Philopater had lived half the allotted days of man, he 
fell a victim to his intemperance and excesses. He died b. c. 
■204, after a reign of seventeen years, and was succeeded in 
his kingdom by Ptolemy Epiphanes, his son, who was then 
only five years of age. 

PTOLEMY EPIPHANES. 

As the only persons present at the death of Philopater 
were Agathocles, his sister, and their creatures, they con- 
cealed it as long as possible from the public, in order that 
they might have time to possess themselves of the money, 
jewels, and other valuable effects in the palace. The also 
formed a plan to maintain themselves in the same authority 
they had enjoyed under the deceased monarch, by usurping 
the regency during the minority of his son. They imagined 
this might easily be done, if they could despatch Tlepolemus 
and measures were concerted by them for this purpose. 



214 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

But the mischief they designed for others fell upon their own 
heads. The people were informed, at length, of the king's 
death ; and a great council of the Macedonians was assem- 
bled, in which Agathocles, and Agathoclea his sister M'ere pre- 
sent. Agathocles, with tears in his eyes, opened the proceed- 
ings by imploring protection for the infant king, whom he 
held in his arms. He told them, that his royal sire, in his 
expiring moments, committed him to the care of Agathoclea, 
whom he pointed out to them ; and had recommended him to 
the fidelity of the Macedonians : that, for this reason, he was 
come to implore their assistance against Tlepolemus, who me- 
ditated, the design of usurping the crown. He offered to 
bring witnesses to prove the treason of Tlepolemus. But his 
artifice was too gross to be believed. It served only, indeed, 
to recall to the remembrance of the people the many other 
crimes of which the favourites of Philopater had been guilty, 
and they immediately resolved upon the destruction of Aga- 
thocles, his sister, and all their creatures. The young king 
was taken out of their hands, and seated on the throne in the 
Hippodrome, after which, Agathocles, his sister, and (Enan- 
the their mother were brought before him, and there put to 
death as by his order. The populace exposed their dead 
bodies to all the indignities possible, dragging them through 
the streets, and literally tearing them to pieces. All their re- 
lations and creatures met with the same treatment. 

Among those who died was Philammon, the assassin who 
murdered Arsinoe. This man having returned from Cja-ene 
to Alexandria two or three days before the tumult broke out, 
the ladies of honour of that unfortunate queen had instant 
notice of it, and taking the opportunity which the distractions 
of the city gave them, they resolved to revenge her death. 
Accordingly, they broke open the door of the house Avhere 
he was, and killed him with clubs and stones. 

The care of the king's person was now given to Sosibius, 
son to him who had governed during the last three reigns. 
History does not state M'liether the father was still alive ; but 
it is certain that he lived to a great age, as he had passed 
above sixty years in the administration. Polj'bius says, that 
no minister was ever more corrupt or more subtle than Sosi- 
bius. Provided tbcy conduced to his purpose, he made no 
scruple of committing the blackest crimes. This author, in- 
deed, attributes to him the murder of Lysimachus, son of Pto- 
lemy ; of Arsinoe, daughter of that Lysimachus ; of Magas, 
son of Ptolemy ; of Berenice, daughter of Magas ; of Bere- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTLiNS. 215 

nice, mother of Ptolemy Pliilopater ; of Cleomenes, king of 
Sparta ; and of Arsinoe, daughter of Berenice. If he was 
such a monster of iniquity, it is surprising that he should so 
long have supported himself in the administration. 

Although Antiochus king of Syria, and Philip king of 
Macedonia, had, during the reign of Ptolemy Philopater, dis- 
covered great zeal for the interest of that monarch, and were 
ready to assist him on all occasions, yet, no sooner was he 
dead, than they joined in a criminal alliance to destroy the 
infant heir, whom the laws of humanity and justice enjoined 
them not to disturb, in order to divide his dominions between 
them. Philip was to possess Caria, Lybia, Cyrenaica, and 
Egypt ; and Antiochus all the rest. With this view, the lat- 
ter entered C(Elo-Syria and Palestine ; and, in less than two 
campaigns, made an entire conquest of those two provinces, 
with all their cities and dependencies. Their guilt, says Po- 
lybius, would not have been so glaring, had they, like tyrants, 
endeavoured to gloss over their crimes with some specious 
pretence ; but, so far from doing this, their injustice and 
cruelty were so barefaced, that to them was applied what is 
generally said of fishes, that the larger ones, though of the 
same species, prey on the lesser. This author adds : — '• One 
would be tempted, at seeing the most sacred laws of society 
thus openly violated, to accuse Providence of being indiffer- 
ent to the crimes of man." But the issue showed that there 
is One \vho ruleth on high ; One Avho taketh note of all the 
deeds of every man, and who rewardeth them according to 
their deserts. Whilst these princes were meditating the de- 
struction of an infant, and the subversion of his kingdom, 
Providence raised up the Romans against them, who entirely 
subverted their kingdoms, and subdued their successors. 

This confederacy was formed b. c. 203, and during the 
next two years Egypt was threatened. At the end of that 
time, the court, sensible of their danger, had recourse to the 
Romans for protection, offering them the sole guardianship 
of the king, and the regency of his dominions during his 
minority ; declaring that the late monarch, at his death, had 
recommended them thus to act. It was the interest of the 
Romans not to suffer the power of Philip and Antiochus to 
increase, by the addition of so many rich provinces, of which 
the empire of Egypt at that time consisted. They foresaw, 
also, that they would soon be engaged in war with those two 
princes, with one of Avhom they were already involved in a 
quarrel. For these reasons, thev did not hesitate to accent 



216 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the guardianship of Epiphanes. They sent thither ^milius, 
who, pursuant to the instructions he had received from the. 
senate, settled every thing to as much advantage as the state 
of affairs in Egypt would then admit. He appointed Aris- 
tomenes, the Acarnaniaa, who had long been connected with 
the court of Egj^pt, to superintend the education and person 
of the young monarch, and made him prime minister; duties 
which he discharged with the utmost prudence and fidehty. 

At the same time that iEmilius was sent into Egypt to as- 
sume the guardianship of Epiphanes, two other deputies were 
despatched to Antiochus and Philip, to acquaint them with 
their resolution, and to enjoin them not to molest the domin- 
ions of their royal pupil : otherwise, they would be compelled 
to declare war against them. This declaration in favour of 
an oppressed infant monarch was making a just and noble 
use of their power ; and it were to be wished that powerful 
states would at all times act thus generously. 

The first thing Aristomenes sought to effect was, to defend 
himself against the invasion of the two confederate kings. 
For this purpose, he sent Scopas into iEtolia, Avith large sums 
of money, to levy as many troops as possible ; the .zEtolians 
being looked upon at that time as the best soldiers in the 
world. In this mission Scopas succeeded ; he brought 6000 
soldiers from that country, which was considered to be a valu- 
able reinforcement for the Egyptian army. 

This Scopas had formerly enjoyed the highest post in his 
own country, and was thought to be one of the bravest and 
most experienced generals of that age. When the time of 
continuing his emplojanent expired, he flattered himself with 
the hopes of being continued in his office, but was disap- 
pointed. This gave him disgust, so that he left .lEtolia, and 
engaged in the service of the king of Egypt. 

The next year, b. c. 199, the Egyptians, seeing Antiochus 
employed in Asia Minor, in the war which had broken out 
between him and Attains, king of Pergamus, sent Scopas into 
Palestine and Coelo-Syria, to endeavour to recover those pro- 
vinces. He carried on the war so successfully, that he re- 
covered several cities, retook Judea, threw a garrison into the 
citadel of Jerusalem, and upon the approach of winter re- 
turned to Alexandria, whither he brought exceeding rich 
spoils, taken in the conquered countries. 

But the success of this campaign was principally owing to 
the absence of Antiochus, and to the little resistance which 
had been made, for he was no sooner arrived there, k. c. 198, 



HISTORY OF THE r'GYPTIAfJS. 217 

than victory declared in his favour. Scopas, who had re- 
turned with an army, was defeated at Paneas, near the source 
of the river Jordan, in a battle wherein a great slaughter was 
rhade of his troops. He was forced to fly to Sidon, where he 
shut himself up with the 1 0.000 men he had left. Antiochus 
besieged him in it, and reduced him to such extremities, that, 
being in want of provisions, he was forced to surrender the 
city, and content himself with having his life spared. The 
governnient of Alexandria employed its utmost efforts to re- 
lieve him in Sidon, and three of the best generals, at the head 
of the choicest troops of the state, had been sent to false the 
siege. But Antiochus made such judicious arrangements, 
that all their eflbrts were defeated, and Scopas was obliged to 
accept of the ignominious condition of being sent home, naked 
and disarmed. 

Antiochus went from thence to Gaza, where he met with 
a strong resistance, which highly incensed him ; and, accord- 
ingly, having taken the city, he abandoned the plunder of it 
to his soldiers. He then secured the passes through which 
the troops of Egypt approached, and, returning back, sub- 
jected all Palestine and Coslo-Syria. 

The instant that the Jews, who had at that time cause to be 
offended with the Egyptians, knew that Antiochus was ad- 
vancing towards their country, they came to meet him, and 
to deliver up the keys of all their cities. When he came to 
Jerusalem, the priests and elders came out in great pomp to 
meet him and to pay him honour. They likewise assisted 
him in driving from the castle the soldiers whom Scopas had 
left there. In return for these services, Antiochus granted 
them a great many privileges ; and he enacted, by a particu- 
lar decree, that no stranger should be allowed access to the 
inner part of the temple, a prohibition which had reference 
to Philopater's attempt to force his way thither. 

Having thus subjected all Coelo-Syria and Palestine, Anti- 
ochus resolved upon making the like conquest in Asia Minor. 
But as it would be necessary, for the success of his design, to 
prevent the Egyptians from molesting him in his new con- 
quests, at a time that he should be far away from his king- 
dom, he sent Eucles the Rhodian to Alexandria, to offer his 
daughter in marriage to Ptolemy ; but on this condition, that 
they should not celebrate their nuptials till they should be a 
little older ; and that then, on the day of their marriage, he 
would give up those provinces to Egypt, as his daughter's 
dowry. This proposal being accepted, the treaty was con- 
voy. I. 19 



218 IIISTOKY OF TI!E rGYPTIAKS. 

eluded and ratified ; and the Egyptians, relying on his pro- 
mises, suffered him to carry on his conquests unmolested. 

About the year b. c. 196, a conspiracy was formed against 
the life of Ptolemy, by Scopas. That general, seeing himself 
at the head of all the foreign troops, the greatest part of which 
were, like himself, ^tolians, imagined that with these vete- 
ran forces it would be easy for him to usurp the crown dur- 
ing the king's minority. His plan was already formed ; and, 
had he not wasted his time in consulting and debating with 
his friends, instead of acting, it is probable he would have 
succeeded. Aristomenes, the prime minister, being apprised 
of the conspiracy, laid Scopas under an arrest ; after which, 
he was examined before the coupcil, found guilty, and exe- 
cuted, with all his accomplices. 

This plot made the government no longer confide in the 
^Etolians, who till then had been held in great esteem for 
their fidelity ; most of them were removed from their employ- 
ments, and sent into their own country. 

The transition from avarice to perfidy and treason is very 
short, and the fidelity of the man who is governed by a pas- 
sion for riches cannot be safely relied on. This it was that 
led Scopas to his tragical end. After his death, immense 
treasures were found in his coffers, which he had amassed 
by plundering the provinces over which he commanded, more 
especially that of Judea. It has been well observed, that " a 
wise man will desire no more than what he can get justlj'^, 
use prudently, distribute cheerfully, and live contentedly 
with ;" for when avarice rules dominant in the heart, it leads 
to various crimes, and to ultimate ruin, of which this is a 
striking instance. 

One of the principal accomplices of Scopas was Dicearchus, 
who had formerly been admiral to Philip, king of Macedo- 
nia. A strairge action is recorded of this man. That prince 
having commanded him to fall upon the islands called Cy- 
clades, in open violation of the most solemn treaties, he set up 
two altars, one to Injustice, and the other to Impiety, and of- 
fered sacrifices on both, thereby insulting both gods and men. 
As this man had so greatly distinguished himself by his 
crimes, Aristomenes distinguished him from the rest of the 
conspirators in his sufferings ; for while they were de- 
spatched by poison, he was made to endure the most severe 
torments. 

About this time, Epiphanes, although he had not attained 
the years appointed by the laws, was declared of age, and 



HISTORY OF THK EGYPTIANS. 219 

was set upon the throne with great pomp and solemnity; 
after which, he took the government upon himself. 

Three years after, b. c. 193, the marriage of Epiphanes 
Math Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus, took place. She Avas 
brought by her father to Raphia, a frontier city of Palestine, 
towards Egypt, where the marriage was solemnized, and 
where Epiphanes received the provinces of CcElo-Syria and 
Palestine as her dowry, but upon condition that he should 
pay to Antiochus half the revenues. 

Immediately upon his accession to the throne, Epiphanes 
sent an ambassador into Achaia, to renew the alliance which 
the king his father had formerly concluded with the Achaeans. 
The latter readily embraced the friendship of Epiphanes, and 
accordingly sent as deputies to the king, Lycortas, father of 
Polybius the historian, and two other ambassadors. The alli- 
ance being renewed, Philopcemcn, who was at that time in 
office, invited Ptolemy's ambassador to a banquet, at which 
the conversation turned upon Epiphanes. His ambassador 
expatiated long and loud on his dexterity in the chase, his 
address in riding, and his vigour and activity in the exercise 
of his arms ; and, to give an example of what he asserted, he 
declared that this prince had killed, on horseback, a wild bull 
with one stroke of his javelin ; as though such a deed was 
an ennobling virtue, redounding to the honour, and not, as it 
in reality did, to the disgrace of Epiphanes ; since such dex- 
terity could only be attained by neglecting his duties as a 
king. 

It was a wise saying of Antisthenes, " It is better to fall 
amongst birds of prey than flatterers ; for they only 
devoiir the dead, but the flatterer devours the living." 
As long as Aristomenes was at the helm, and Epiphanes 
listened to his wise counsels, the affairs of state were 
managed so as to gain universal approbation. But as soon, 
almost, as he became his own master, the flattery of his 
courtiers gained the ascendancy over him ; and the remain- 
ing part of his reign was rendered infamous. Aristomenes 
did not cease to give him good advice, and to intreat him to 
conduct himself in a manner more worthy of his exalted sta- 
tion. But he was unheeded. Plunging himself into all the 
vices which had rendered his father's name and reign odious, 
instead of hearkening to his wholesome admonitions, Epi- 
phanes ordered Aristomenes to be put to death for the liberties 
he had taken. After this foul deed, he aba,ndoned himself to 
excesses of every kind, following no other guides, in the ad- 



220 HISTDEY or THE EGYPTUNS. 

ministratioa of affairs, but his own wild passions, and exercis- 
ing a most cruel tyranny over his subjects. 

This brought Epiphanes into great difficulties. The 
Egyptians, (b. c. 183,) unable to endure the grievances to 
which they were daily exposed, formed associations, and 
entered into a conspiracy, with a design to depose him, which 
Diodorus says, they were upon the point of executing. To 
extricate himself, however, Epiphanes appointed Polycrates 
prime minister. This man possessed great bravery, superior 
abilities, and consummate experience, in affairs both of peace 
and war. He had commanded in the capacity of general 
under his father in the battle of Raphia, on which occasion 
he greatly contributed to the victory. Afterwards, he was 
made governor of Cyprus, and happening to come to Alex- 
andria, when the conspiracy of Scopas was brought to light, 
the expedients he adopted conduced much to the preservation 
of the state. By his aid Ptolemy, indeed, overcame the rebels. 
He obliged their leaders, who were the chief lords of the 
country, to capitulate and submit, upon certain conditions. 
But having got them into his power, he violated his promise ; 
and, after exercising various cruelties upon them, he caused 
them to be put to death. This treacherous conduct involved 
him in fresh difficulties, from which he was again delivered 
by the counsel of Polycrates. 

Epiphanes maintained, during the whole of his reign, a 
strict friendship with the Romans. Livy tells us that he 
offered them a thousand pounds' weight of gold, and twenty 
thousand of silver, to carry on the war against Antiochus, 
king of Syria, whose daughter he had married ; and that 
when Antiochus Avas driven out of Europe by the Roman 
arms, he sent an embassy to Rome to congratulate the senate 
on the deliverance of Greece, and the flight of Antiochus ; 
and to offer them, in his name, and in that of his queen Cleo- 
patra, ships, money, or provisions, to aid them in their strife 
with the Syrian monarch. This is veiy probable ; for Pto- 
lemy hated Antiochus on account of disturbances Avhich he 
had fomented in his kindom, and Cleopatra, in all likelihood, 
was shocked at her father's treachery and cruelty ; for he is 
said to have married her to Ptolemy with no other view biU 
to get rid of him by her means, and to possess himself of 
Egypt. The virtuous young queen, inviolably attached to 
her duty, joined Avith Ptolemy against Antiochus, and pre- 
ferred, says Jerome, conjugal affection to the ties of blood. 

Ptolemy cultivated with great care the friendship of the 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 22 J 

Achaean republic. In the end of his reign, he sent ambassa- 
dors to them, inviting the-confederacy to join with him in an 
offensive and defensive league, and promising them six thou- 
sand shields, two hundred talents of brass, and ten ships of 
fifty oars each, equipped for war. His offer was accepted, 
and ambassadors were appointed, namely, Lycortas, with his 
son Polybius, and Aratus, to renew the aUiance, and bring 
the ten ships into Peloponnesus. 

This treaty, however, was not carried into effect. Ptolemy, 
having reduced his subjects at home, was preparing to make 
war upon Seleucus, king of Syria. But as his finances were 
exhausted, one of his chief ofiicers asked him by what means he 
would carry on his designs. He replied that his friends were 
his treasures. This answer being circulated among his 
officers and courtiers, they concluded that he designed to 
pursue the Avar with their fortunes and estates. To prevent 
this evil, therefore, which had more weight with them than 
the allegiance they owed their king, or any misfortune 
which could befall their country, they caused him to be 
poisoned. This tragical act occurred b. c. 180, after Ptolemy- 
had lived twenty-nine, and had reigned twenty-four years. 
He was succeeded in his kingdom by his son, 



PTOLEMY PHTLOMETER 



under the guajdianship of his mother, who for the space of 
eight years governed the kingdom of Egypt with great pru- 
dence and moderation. At the end of that time, Cleopatra 
dying, the regency fell to Lanasus, a nobleman of great distinc- 
tion in that country, and to Eulseus, an eunuch, who was charged 
Avith the care of the young king's education. They had no 
sooner entered upon the administration, than they demanded 
Ccelo-Syria and Palestine of Antiochus Epiphanes, who at that 
time reigned in Syria ; a demand that eventually occasioned 
a war between the two croAvns. Cleopatra, who was mother 
to one of these kings, and sister to the other, had prevented 
the strife as long as she lived ; but the new regents did not 
show much regard for Antiochus, nor scruple to demand of 
him Avhat they believed belonged to their sovereign by right. 
It is certain, indeed, that the Egyptian monarchs had always 
possessed the sovereignty of these provinces, from the time of 
Ptolemy Soter, till Antiochus the Great wrested them from 
Ptolemy Epiphanes, and left them to Seleucus, his son. His 

19* 



222 IJISTOllV OF THE EG^VPTliLNS. 

right, therefore, was no other than that of conquest, and as 
such alone they had descended to Antiochus Epiphanes. 

To enforce their pretensions, the Egyptians declared that, 
in the last division of the empire between the successors of 
Alexander, these provinces had been assigned to Ptolemy 
Soter ; that himself, and his successors to the crown of Egypt, 
had enjoyed them from that time to the battle of Paneas, when 
Antiochus the Great dispossessed Egypt of them ; that this 
prince had stipulated, when he gave his daughter to the 
king of Egypt, to restore to him those provinces as her 
dowry ; and that this was the principal article of the marriage 
contract. 

Antiochus denied these facts, and pretended that, on the 
contrary, in the general division which had been made of 
Alexander's empire, all Syria, including Coelo-Syria and 
Palestine, had been assigned to Seleucus Nicator, and that, 
consequently, they belonged to the prince in possession of the 
kingdom of Syria. With regard to the marriage contract, by 
virtue of which the Egyptians demanded back those pro- 
vinces, he asserted that it was chimerical. In fine, after 
having given their reasons on both sides, without coming to 
any conclusion, they resolved to decide their pretensions by 
force of arms. 

At this time, b. c. 171, Ptolemy Philometer, having attained 
his fifteenth year, Avas declared of age. Great preparations 
were made in Alexandria for the solemnity of his coronation, 
according to the Egyptian custom. Antiochus sent an am- 
bassador, on that occasion to congratulate the young king in 
his name. This was, ostensibly, to do honour to his nephew; 
but his real motive was to discover, if possible, the designs of 
that court with respect to the provinces of Ccelo-Syria and 
Palestine. His ambassador returned with the intelligence 
that preparations were making for war ; whereupon he 
visited the frontiers of the country, and put himself in a pos- 
ture of defence against the Egyptians. Nor did he stop here. 
Finding himself in a condition to begin war, he resolved not to 
wait for it in his own dominions, but to carry his arms into 
Egypt. He imagined that, qs Ptolemy was but sixteen years 
of age, and was governed by unskilful ministers, he should 
be able to bring him to what terms he pleased. He was per- 
suaded, also, that the Romans, under whose protection Egypt 
still remained, had such deeji warlike engagements, that it 
would be impossible for them to give the Egyptians the least 
succour ; and that the war they were cairying on against 



HiSTOllV OF TIIK EGYPTIANS. 223 

■Perseus, king of Macedon, would afiford them no leisure. 
He thought in short, that the present juncture was very 
favourable for him to decide his differences with the Egyptians. 

In the mean time, he sent ambassadors to Rome, to repre- 
sent the right he had to the disputed provinces, and the neces- 
sity of his engaging in a war to support that right. Imme- 
diately after, he put himself at the head of his army, and 
marched towards the frontiers of Egypt. The two contend-, 
ing armies met near Mount Cassius and Pelusium, and a 
battle was fought, in which Antiochus was victorious. He 
now put the frontier in a condition to serve as a barrier, and 
to check the utmost efforts the Egyptians might make to re- 
cover the provinces ; after which enterprise, he retired to 
Tyre. 

The next year, b. c. 170, Antiochus again invaded Egypt, 
both by sea and land. By this time, Ptolemy had raised a 
very considerable army, but it was to no purpose. Antiochus 
gained a second battle on the frontiers, took the city of Pelu- 
sium, and marched into the very heart of Egypt. 

In this defeat of the Egyptians, it was in the power of An- 
tiochus to have caused a universal desolation. But it was the 
ruin of his nephew alone that he sought. With this end in 
view, instead of carrying on the work of slaughter, he obliged 
his soldiers to sheathe the sword, which affected clemency 
gained him the hearts of the Egyptians. When he advanced 
into the country, the inhabitants came in crowds to pay hom- 
age to him, so that he soon took Memphis and all Egypt, 
Alexandria excepted. 

Philometer was either taken or else surrendered himself to 
Antiochus, who set him at liberty. After this they Hved 
apparently in great friendship. For some time, indeed, An- 
tiochus affected to be anxious for the interests of his nephew, 
and to regulate his affairs as his guardian. But when he 
had gained a firm footing in the country, he seized whatever 
he thought fit. He plundered all places, and enriched him- 
self as well as his soldiers with the spoils of the Egyptians. 

All this time, says Justin, Philometer made a miserable 
figure. In the field he avoided danger, and did not even 
show himself to those who fought for him. And after the 
battle, he submitted himself to Antiochus in the most abject 
manner, without even making one effort to recover his king- 
dom. This, however, was not so much owing to want of 
courage and capacity, (for he afterwards gave proofs of both,) 
as the effects of his effeminate education under Euleeus. That 



224 HISTORY OF THE EUYTTlAiXS, 

perfidious minister had used his utmost endeavours to plung'e 
Philometer into luxury and effeminacy, in order to make him 
mcapable of public business, that he might retain all power in 
his own hands, even when he, the king, had attained the right 
of governing for himself 

The Alexandrians, b. c. ItjQ, seeing Philometer in the 
hands of Antiochus, considered him as lost, and therefore they 
declared the kingdom void, and seated his younger brother 
upon the throne. This prince, according to Porphyry, had 
the name of Ptolemy Euergetes ii. given him, which was 
soon changed to that of Cacoergetes ; the former signifying 
" beneficent," and the latter " evil doer." Afterwards, he 
was named .Physcon, which was a term of derision, alluding 
to his gluttony, which had made him remarkably corpulent, 
Under which name he is usually mentioned by ancient his- 
torians. Cineas and Cumanus were appointed the chief 
ministers of Physcon, and they were directed to use their 
utmost endeavours to restore the affairs of the kingdom to 
their former flourishing condition. 

Antiochus took note of these proceedings, and returned a 
third time into Egypt, under the specious pretence of restoring 
the dethroned monarch, but in reality, to make himself abso- 
lute master of the kingdom. He defeated the Alexandrians 
in a sea-fight near Pelusium, marched his forces into Egypt, 
and advanced directly towards Alexandria, in order to besiege 
it. The young king consulted his ministers, who advised 
him to assemble a grand council to deliberate on the mea- 
sures proper to be taken in the present exigency. After 
many debates, the council called came to this resolution — 
That, as their affairs were reduced to so low an ebb, it would 
be necessary for them to seek a reconciliation with Antiochus ; 
and that the ambassadors of the several states of Greece, who 
were in Alexandria, should be desired to employ their media- 
tion, to which they readily consented. They repaired with 
two of Ptolemy's ambassadors to the camp of Antiochus \vith 
the overtures of peace. The king gave them a favourable 
reception, regaled them in a magnificent manner, and ap- 
pointed the next day for them to make their proposals. The 
Achseans spoke first, and afterwards the rest in their turns. 
All were unanimous in their accusation of Eulceus ; ascribing 
the calamities of the war to his mal-administration, and to the 
minority of Philometer. At the same time, they apologized 
in a very artful manner for the new king, and employed all 
th6 powers of their rhetoric to move Antiochus in his favour. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 1^5 

i'ft wdfer to mduce him to treat with him, laying particular 
stress on their affinity. 

Antiochus, in his reply, agreed with them as to the cause 
and origin of the war, and took occasion from thence to ex- 
patiate on the right he had to Ccelo-Syria and Palestine, alleg- 
ing the reasons before stated, and producing some documents 
which were judged so conclusive, that the members of this 
congress were convinced of the justice of his claim to these 
provinces. As to the conditions of the peace, he postponed 
them til] another opportunity ; giving them reasons to hope 
that a solemn treaty would be drawn up as soon as two ab- 
sent persons, Avhom he named, should be with him ; declar- 
ing, at the same time, that he would not take any measures 
without them. But this was a subterfrge. After he had 
given this answer, he decamped, came to Naucratis, march«d 
from thence to Alexandria, and besieged it. 

In this extremity, Euergetes, and Cleopatra his sister, who 
were in the city, sent ambassadors to Rome, representing the 
deplorable condition to which they were reduced, and im- 
ploring the aid of the Romans. The ambassadors appeared 
in the audience with all the marks of ceremonial sorrow 
used at that time in great national afflictions, and made a 
speech still more afiecting. They observed, that the authority 
of the Romans was so much revered by all nations ; and that 
Antiochus particularly had received so many obligations from 
them, that if they would only declare by their ambassadors 
that the senate did not approve of his making war against na- 
tions in alliance with Rome, he would draw off his troops 
from Alexandria, and return to- Syria. They likewise repre- 
sented, that should the senate refuse to afford them their pro- 
tection, Ptolemy and Cleopatra, being expelled from their 
kingdom, would be compelled to repair to Rome, an act, they 
said, that would reflect dishonour on the Roman name. 

The senate, moved with their remonstrances, and per- 
suaded that it v/as their interest to check the designs of An- 
tiochus, resolved to send an embassy to Egypt to put an end 
to the war. C. Popilius Lenas, C. Decimns, and C. Hostilius, 
were appointed for this important negotiation. They were 
instructed to wait first upon Antiochus, and afterwards on 
Ptolemy; to order them, in the name of the senate, to suspend 
all hostihties, and put an end to the war ; and to declare, thai 
should either of the parties refuse compliance, the Romans 
would no longer consider them as allies. As the danger was 
imminent, three days after the resolution had been, taken in 



226 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the senate, the Roman deputies set '>ut from Rome with the 
Egyptian ambassadors. 

A little before their departure, ambassadors from Rhodes 
arrived in Egypt to terminate, if possible, the disputes be- 
tween the two crowns. They visited Antiochus in his camp, 
and did all that lay in their power to induce him to come to 
an accommodation with the king of Egypt ; strongly insisting 
on the friendship with which both crowns had so long 
honoured them ; and how nearly it concerned them to employ 
their good offices, in order to settle a lasting peace between 
them. As they expatiated largely on these topics, Antiochus in- 
terrupted them, and declared that they had no occasion to make 
a long harangue on this subject, that the crown belonged to 
the elder of the two brothers, with whom he had concluded a 
peace, and contracted a strict friendship ; and that if he were 
recalled and placed upon the throne, the war would be 
ended. 

These were his declarations, but his intentions Avere very 
different ; his views being only, says Livy, to perplex affairs 
for the attainment of his own ends. But the resistance he 
met with from Alexandria, the siege of which he forsaw he 
should be forced to raise, obliged him to change his plan, and 
conclude that it would henceforth be his wisdom to preserve 
an enmity, and occasion a war between the two brothers. He 
conceived that this might so weaken both powers, that he 
might seize upon their kingdom at his pleasure. With this 
unhallowed view, which demands a sigh for human depravi- 
ty, he raised the siege, marched towards Memphis, and gave 
Philometer, in outward appearance, possession of the whole 
kingdom, Pelusium excepted. This city he reserved as a 
key for entering Egypt the instant matters should be ripe for 
his evil purpose. 

But these selfish and malicious designs of Antiochus Avere 
defeated. Philometer began at length to wake from his 
lethargy, and to be sensible of the calamities brought upon 
him. He saw, indeed, through the designs of Antiochus, 
and rightly concluded that he reserved Pelusium for a future 
opportunity of making war upon Egypt, should himself and 
his brother carry on war against each other. The instant, 
therefore, that Antiochus marched away, he sent to inform 
his brother that he was willing to come to an accommodation, 
which was accordingly affected by the mediation of Cleopatra, 
their sister, on condition that the two brothers should reign 
jointly. Philometer returned to Alexjindiiii, and Egypt was 



HISTOKY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 227 

restored to its former tranquillity, to the great joy of its in- 
habitants, particularly those of Alexandria, who had suffered 
severely from this unhallowed warfare. 

Reader, it was unhallowed^ because the ties of blood were 
not sufficient to stem the tide of ambition. The kings of 
Syria and Egypt were all united in near relationship ; but 
this was of no avail ; ambition had uprooted all family affec- 
tion, and hence the discord that prevailed between the two 
powers. Bi;t why need we wonder at this ? Our great fore- 
father had not long fallen from his lofty state of innocence, 
when one of his offspring lifted up the arm of revenge against 
the other, and slew him. Thence, therefore, springs all the 
discord in families and kingdoms : and, till mankind are re- 
stored to their original righteousness, till they have been 
washed in the blood of the Lamb, and sanctified by God's 
Holy Spirit, the Christian exalted far above his fellows, will 
have occasion to sigh over the actions of the world at large, 
and to pray ardently for their conversion, that deeds at which 
his heart sickens, and discord at which he trembles, may 
cease. 

To proceed with the history. Had Antiochus spoken truly, 
when he declared that the sole design of his coming into 
Egypt was to restore Philometer to his throne, he would have 
been pleased to have heard that the brothers were reconciled. 
But he was far from entertaining such thoughts. As soon as 
he heard of their reconciliation, he resolved to employ his 
whole forces against them both. 

The brothers anticipated such a result, and prepared for 
the blow. They sent ambassadors into Greece, to desire 
some auxiliary forces from the Achteans. The assembly was 
held in Corinth. The two kings requested only 1,000 foot 
soldiers, under the command of Lycortas, and 200 horse, un- 
der Polybius. Callicrates, who presided in the assembly, op- 
posed this request, under the pretence that it would not be for 
the interest of the Achcean confederates to concern themselves 
with foreign affairs ; and he asserted, that they ought to pre- 
serve their soldiers to aid the Romans, who were menanced 
with a fierce battle with Perseus. Lycortas and Polybius, 
speaking next, observed, that Polybius having been the year 
before with Marcius, who commanded the Roman army in 
Macedonia, to offer him the aid which the Achaean league 
had decreed to send him, the consul had declined the offer, 
stating that, as he had got footing in Macedonia, he should 
not want the aid of the allies ; therefore, the Achseans, they 



§28 ttlSTOKY OF THE EGYPTIAJN'S. 

*dded, tould not haV6 that pretext for abandoning the kings 
b'f Egypt They further represented, that, as the league was 
able, without inconvenience, to levj'- 30,000 or 40,000 men, 
So small a number as was required by the Egyptian princes 
Would not lessen their strength ; that it would be ungrateful 
of them to forget the favours they had received from the Egyp- 
tians ; and that their refusal would be a violation of the trea- 
ties and oaths on which the alliance was founded. As the 
fnajority were for granting the aid, CaUicrates dismissed the 
ambassadors, pretending that it was contrary to the laws, to 
debate an affair of that nature in such an assembly. 

Another assembly was therefore held, some time after, in 
Sicyon ; and, as the members were about to take the same 
resolution, CaUicrates read a forged letter from Q,. Marcius, 
by which the Achcsans were exhorted to employ their media- 
tion for terminating the war between the two Ptolemies and 
Antiochus; and, in consequence, caused a decree to pass, 
whereby the Achaean confederates agreed to send only an 
embassy to these princes. 

In the mean time, Antiochus, after taking measures for pre- 
serving the possession of the island of Cyprus, marched at the 
lie&d of a very powerful army, with the express design of 
Subduing Egypt to his yoke. Upon his arrival at Rhinoco- 
rura, he found ambassadors from Philometer, who repre- 
isented to him, that their sovereigir was very sensible that he 
owed his restoration to Antiochus ; and tliat he conjured him 
not to destroy his own work, by employing force of arms, but 
to acquaint him amicably with his intentions. Antiochus, 
now throwing off" the mask of friendship whicli he jiad hith- 
erto worn, told the ambassadors that he insisted upon having 
the island of Cyprus. Avith the city of Pelusium, and all the 
land along the arm of the Nile on which it was situated, re- 
signed to him for ever, on which conditions alone he would 
make peace. He also fixed a day for a final answer to his 
demand. 

That day having arrived, and the satisfaction he claimed 
not being made, Antiochus began hostilities. He penetrated 
as far as Memphis, subjecting the whole country through 
which he passed, and he there received the submission of al- 
most all the rest of the kingdom. Afterwards, he marched 
towards Alexandria, with a design to besiege that city, the 
possession of which would have made him absolute master of 
Egypt. He would have succeeded in his enterprise, had he 
not been checked in his career by the Roman embassy, be- 



HISTORV OF TUK EGYPTIANS. 229 

fore meationed, which broke all the measures he had fakeh 
b possess himself of Egypt. 

These ambassadors landed at Alexandria, as Antiochus 
was marching to besiege it. They accordingly went out to 
meet him. They met with him at Eleusine, which was not a 
mile from Alexandria. The king seeing Popilius, with 
whom he had been intimately acquainted at Rome, when he 
was a hostage in that city, opened his arms to embrace him 
as an old friend. The Roman, however, Avho did not con- 
sider himself on that occasion as a private man, but a servant 
of the public, desired to know, before he answered his com- 
pliment, whether he spoke to a friend or an enemy of Rome. 
He then gave him the decree of the senate, bade him read it 
over, and return him an immediate answer. Antiochus, 
after perusing it, said, he would examine the contents of it 
with his friends, and give his answer in a short time. Po- 
pilius, displeased with this evasion, drew, Avith the wand he 
held in his hand, a circle round Antiochus, and then raising 
his voice — " Answer," says he, " the senate, before )^ou stir 
out of that circle." The king, confounded at so haughty an 
order, after a moment's reflection, replied, that he would act 
according to the desire of the senate. Popilius then received 
his civilities, and returned his friendship. 

It may be mentioned, that the circumstance which made 
Popilias so bold, and Antiochus so submissive on this occa- 
sion, was, the news that arrived just before of the great victory 
gained by the Romans over Perseus, king of Macedonia. 
From that instant, every thing was prostrate before them, and 
the Roman name was formidable to all princes and nations: 
thus realizing the descriptioii of their empire found in the 
..prophecies of Daniel : " And the fourth kingdom shall be 
strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and sub- 
dueth all things : and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it 
break in pieces and bruise," Dan. ii. 40. The use the Ro- 
mans made of this power was, in this instance, a noble one. 
Justice and humanity shone forth conspicuous in the action, 
and it would have been well for the Roman name had they 
always acted thus. But with their prosperity, pride entered 
their ranks, and luxury followed in its train, Avhich led them 
to acts of rapine and of slaughter among the nations around. 

Antiochus having left Egypt at the time stipulated, Popi- 
lius and his colleagues returned to Alexandria, where he 
brought to a conclusion the treaty of union between the two 
brothers. He then crossed into Cvprus. sent home the flee' 

VOL. ]. 20 



-230 HISTORY OF THK EGi'nlA^"S. 

of Antiochus, which had gained a victory over that of the 
Egyptians, restored the island to the kings of Egypt, and 
then returned to Rome, to acquaint the senate with the success 
of his embassy. 

Almost at the same time, ambassadors from Antiochus, the 
two Ptolemie?, and Cleopatra their sister, arrived in Rome. 
The former reported, " That the peace which the senate had 
been pleased to grant their sovereign appeared to him more 
glorious than the most splendid conquests ; and that he had 
obeyed the commands of the Roman ambassadors, as strictly as 
if they had been sent from the gods !" They afterwards con- 
gratulated the Romans on the victory they had gained over 
Perseus. The other ambassadors spoke in the same fulsome 
and impious strain. They said, " That the two Ptolemies and 
Cleopatra thought themselves bound in as great obligations to 
the senate and people of Rome, as to their parents, and even 
to the gods ; having been delivered, by the protection Avhich 
Rome had granted them, from a very grievous siege, and re- 
established on the throne of their ancestors, of which they 
had been well nigh dispossessed." The senate replied, 
" That Antiochus acted wisely in paying obedience to the 
ambassadors ; and that the senate and people of Rome were 
pleased with him for it." With regard to the Ptolemies and 
Cleopatra, it was answered, " That the senate were very much 
pleased ^vith the opportunity of doing them some service ; and 
that they would endeavour to make them sensible, that they 
ought to look upon the friendship and protection of the Ro- 
mans as the most solid support of their kingdom." The prae- 
tor was then directed to make the ambassadors the usual pre- 
sents. All these latter events occurred b. c. 168. 

The swords of the uncle and uepheAv had scarcely been 
jiheathed, by the intervention of the Romans, when the bro- 
thers turned theirs against each other. Their divisions, in- 
deed, rose to such a height, that the Roman senate gave 
orders to the ambassadors they had sent into Syria, to pro- 
ceed to Alexandria, and to use their utmost endeavours to re- 
concile the two kings. But before the ambassador reached 
Egypt, Physcon, the younger brother, had driven Philometer 
from the throne, and obliged him to quit the kingdom. He 
embarked for Italy, and landed at Brundusium, from whence 
he travelled to Rome on foot, meanly dressed, and with very 
few attendants. This humble appearance he affected in all 
likelihood, to excite the pity of the senate. Demetrius, the 
son of Seleucus Philopater, late king of Syria, was then a hos- 



HJSXORY OF THE ECiVPTIAiNS. 231 

tage at Rome ; and when he had notice of the arrival of 
Ptolemy in Italy, and of the deploigbfe condition in which he 
was going to appear in the mei'iopolis of the world, he 
caused an equipage to be prepared for him suitable to his dig- 
nity, and went out with it himself to meet him, that he might 
appear at Rome as a king. Demetrius found Philometer at 
twenty-six miles distant from Rome, covered with dust. He 
embraced him, put a crown upon his head, and begged he 
would make use of the royal equipage, which he had brought 
for that purpose. Ptolemy expressed his gratitude for the 
honour and respect the Syrian had shown him, but had his 
reasons for not accepting the offers of the prince. . He would 
not even permit Demetrius to accompany him the rest of his 
journey, but entered Rome on foot, with the same mean at- 
tendance, and in the same dress with which he first set out on 
his journey, and without any state or ceremony took up his 
lodging with a painter of Alexandria. 

When the senate were informed of his arrival, they sent 
for Philometer, and excused themselves for not having re- 
ceived him with those ceremonies which were usual on such 
occasions ; assuring him that it was not from any neglect, or 
want of respect, but because his arrival in Italy had been 
kept so secret, that they were not apprized of it till after he 
had entered Rome. After this, having desired him to quit 
the habit he wore, and to fix a day for an audience of the 
senate in order to lay before them the motives of his journey, 
he was conducted by some of the senators to lodgings suitable 
to his dignity, and the quaestor was ordered to supply him 
with every necessary, at the expense of the public. 

On the day appointed for his audience with the senate, he 
represented to them the injustice of his brother, and the wrongs 
he had received at his hands, so effectually, that they imme- 
diately decreed his restoration, and deputed two of their body, 
Gluintius and Canuleius, to attend him to Alexandria, and 
cause their decree to be put into execution. They recon- 
ducted him, accordingly, and on their arrival in Egypt, suc- 
ceeded in negotiating an accommodation between the two bro- 
thers, in virtue of which, Physcon was put in possession of 
Lybia and the province of Gyrene ; and Philometer of all 
Egypt and the island of Cyprus, each of them being declared 
independent of the other in the dominion allotted them. The 
treaty of agreement was confirmed with the customary oaths 
and sacrifices. 

Oaths and sacrifices, however, at this date, (b. r. 162,) had 



282 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

long" been with the generality "of princes mere ceremonies, by 
which they did not consider themselves bound in the slightest 
degree. Accordingly, soon after, Physcon being dissatisfied 
with his portion, went to Rome to complain to the senate. 
He demanded that the treaty of partition should be annulled, 
and that he should be restored to the possession of the isle of 
Cyprus. He alleged that he had been forced by the neces- 
sity of the times to comply with the former proposals, and 
that, even though Cyprus should be granted him, his share 
would be still inferior to his brother's. Menithyllus, Avhom 
Philometer had sent to plead his cause, maintained it with 
great zeal and ability. He made it appear that Physcon not 
only held Libya and Cyrenaica, but his Hfe also from the 
goodness of his brother ; that he had made himself so much 
abhorred by the people by his violent proceedings, that they 
would have left him neither life nor government had not his 
brother rescued him from their resentment, by making him- 
self mediator ; that at the time he was preserved from this 
danger, he thought himself happy in presiding over the re- 
gion allotted to him ; and that both sides had ratified the treaty 
before the gods, and SAvom to observe their agreement with 
each other. The truth of this statement was confirmed by 
Quintius and Canuleius, who had negotiated the treaty be- 
tween the brothers. 

Nothing could be more equitable than the decisions of the 
senate of Rome, when their own interest did not interfere and 
help to turn the balance. But as it was for the advantage of the 
republic that the strength of the kingdom should be divided, 
and consequently lessened, those refined politicians, without 
any regard to justice, granted the younger brother his de- 
mands. Polybius observes on this transaction, that the Ro- 
mans were ever careful to improve to their own advantage 
the quarrels and disputes vv'hich arose among kings and prin- 
ces, conducting themselves therein in such a manner as to 
make the contending parties believe that they favoured them, 
while they promoted their own interest, which they had 
solely in view in all their resolutions. This alone prompted 
them to favour Physcon, and adjiidgp to him the island of 
Cyprus. 

While Physcon was at Rome on this occasion, he had fre- 
quent opportunity of seeing Cornelia, the mother of the (Irac- 
chi, who was the pattern of her sex, and the prodigy of her 
age. Being taken, not so mucli with herciiarms as Avith her 
virtue and extraordinary quTlilications. ho i\\used proposal 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 233 

of marriage to be made to her. But she, being the daughter 
of Scipio Africanus, and the widow of Tiberius Gracchus, 
who had been twice consul, and once censor, despised the 
offer, imagining it to be more honourable to be one of the first 
matrons of Rome than to reign with Physcon upon the throne 
of Libya. 

WheA Physcon returned, two commissioners were sent with 
him to carry their decree into effect — to put him in possession 
of Cyprus. Their orders were, to use gentle methods, and 
endeavour by fair means to prevail upon Philometer to give 
up Cyprus to his brother. Their plan was to concert an in- 
terview between the two brothers on the frontiers of their do- 
minions, and there to settle matters between them agreeably 
to their instructions. But Torquatus, on his arrival at the 
court of Alexandria, found Philometer no way inclined to 
comply with the decree of the senate. He urged the late 
agreement made by him and his brother by Quintius and 
Canuleius, the former ambassadors, in virtue of which, Cy- 
prus having been allotted to him, he deemed it strange that it 
should, contrary to the articles of that treaty, be now taken 
from him and given to his brother. Philometer did not, how- 
ever, absolutely refuse to yield to the order of the senate, but 
showing himself inclined to grant some things, and objecting 
against others, he spun out the time without coming to any 
determination, in order that he might concert secret measures 
against his brother. 

In the mean time, Physcon, who waited at Apis in Libya, 
as had been agreed, to hear the result of the negotiations of 
Torquatus, receiving no intelligence from him, sent Merula 
the other ambassador also to Alexandria, hoping that both 
might be able to prevail upon Philometer to comply with the 
orders of the republic. But Philometer still observed the 
same conduct, treating the ambassadors with great kindness, 
flattering them Avith fair words, and entertaining them in a 
costly manner for forty days together vdthout giving them 
any definite reply At length, Avhen he found that he could 
evade their demands no longer, he declared that he was 
resolved to stand to the first treaty, and no other. With this 
answer Merula returned to Physcon, and Torquatus to 
Rome. 

The Cyreneans in the mean time, being informed of the 
conduct of Physcon during his brief reign at Alexandria, con- 
ceived so Strong an aversion against him, that they resolved to 
keep him out of their country by force of aitns. Philometer, 

20*- 



234 uitxoKV o;- Tiii; LuvrriANs. 

it was believed, secretly formented these disturbances, in order 
to find his brother employment at home, "and thereby divert 
him from raising fresh commotions in Egypt or Cyprus. 
Physcon being informed of these troubles, and at the same 
time receiving intelligence that the Cyreneans were already 
in the field, laid aside all thoughts of Cyprus, and leaving 
Apis, where his fleet lay in harbour, he hastened to Cyrene 
with all his forces, but was on his arrival overthrown by the 
rebels. Having now well nigh lost all hope, Physcon sent 
two deputies to Rome, there to renew his complaints against 
his brother, and to solicit their protection. The senate, of- 
fended at Philometer's refusal to evacuate Cyprus according 
to their decree, declared that there was no longer any amity 
and alliance between him and the Romans, and ordered his 
ambassador to leave the city in five days. Two ambassadors 
were despatched to Cyrene to acquaint Physcon with the re- 
solution of the Roman senate. 

Physcon, at length, having subdued his rebellious subjects, 
re-established himself in Cyrenaica, But his wicked and 
vicious conduct soon estranged the minds of the Cyreneans 
from him to such a degree, that some of them conspired 
against him, and wounded him in several places, leaving him 
for dead. This he laid to the charge of his brother Philome- 
ter, and as soon as he was recovered, returned to Rome to 
make his complaints to the senate, he showed them the scars 
of his wounds, and accused him of having employed the as- 
sassins from whom he received them. 

Though Philometer was known to be a prince of a mild 
disposition, and of all men living the most unlikely to coun- 
tenance so black a crime, yet the senate, being offended at his 
refusal to submit to their decree with reference to Cyprus, 
hearkened to this false accusation. They carried their pre- 
judice against him, indeed, to such an extent, that they would 
not so much as hear what his ambassadors had to say in his 
defence. Orders were sent to them to quit Rome immedi- 
ately. At the same time, they appointed five commissioners 
to conduct Physcon into Cyprus, and put him in possession 
of that island, enjoining all their allies in the adjacent coun- 
tries to furnish him with forces for that purpose. By these 
means, b. c. 159, Physcon landed in the island of Cyprus. 
Philometer, however, who had gone there in person to defend 
his territories, defeated him, and obliged him to shut himself 
up in Lapitho, a city in that Island, where he was closely be- 
sieged, and at length taken and delivered up to Philometer, 



HISTORY OF THE E&VPTIANS. '235 

whom he had so deeply injured. Philometer's gentleness of 
heart appeared conspicuous upon this occasion. After all 
that Physcon had devised and executed against him, it was 
expected that he would make him sensible of his indignation 
and revenge. But how lovely was the reverse ! He not 
only freely forgave him, but restored him Libya and Cyre- 
naica, and added, farther, some amends in lieu of the island 
of Cyprus. This act of generosity put an end to the war be- 
tween the two brothers ; and the Romans were ashamed of 
opposing any longer a prince of such distinguished clemency. 

Christian reader, go and do thou likewise. If thy brother 
trespass against thee, copy the example of this pagan monarch, 
and forgive him. But thou art taught to perform a nobler 
action even than this. " But I say unto you," says the blessed 
Redeemer, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, 
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which de- 
spitefully use you, and persecute you ; that ye may be the 
children of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh 
his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain 
on the just and on the unjust," Matt. v. 44, 45. 

On his return to Alexandria, Philometer appointed Archias 
governor of Cyprus. This man had formerly served Ptolemy 
with great fidelity, and even attended him to Rome when he 
was driven from his kingdom. But as he was of a covetous 
temper, his fidelity was not proof against gold ; he agreed 
with Demetrius, king of Syria, to betray Cyprus to him for 
500 talents. The treachery was discovered before it was car- 
ried into effect, and the traitor, to avoid punishment, laid vio- 
lent hands on himself Ptolemy, being disgusted with De- 
metrius for his attempt upon Cyprus, joined Attains king of 
Pergamus, and Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, in setting up 
Alexander Balas as a pretender to his crown, and supporting 
him with all the strength of his kingdom. 

About B. c. 150, Alexander, who had become master of the 
empire of Syria, sent to demand Cleopatra, the daughter of 
Philometer king of Egypt, in marriage. She was granted 
him ; and her father conducted her in person to Ptolemais, 
where the nuptials were celebrated. 

The same year, Onias, son of Onias III., who had retired 
into Egypt in consequence of being disappointed of the high- 
priesthood after the death of Menelaus his uncle, obtained 
permission of Philometer for building a temple for the Jews 
in Egypt, like that in Jerusalem ; and at the same time, he ob- 
tained a grant of the high-priesthood to him and his descend- 



S36 History of the Egyptians. 

ants for ever. Philometer was induced to make this grant, by 
the assurances of Onias that such a favour would bring the 
whole nation over to his side against Antiochus Epiphanes. 
His act was therefore one of policy, and readily performed. 
But Onias had some difficulty to make the Jews accede to this 
innovation ; it being strictly forbidden by the law to offer sac- 
rifices in any place but the temple of Jerusalem. He over- 
came their repugnance, however, through the means of a pas- 
sage in Isaiah, wherein the prophet foretells the event in these 
terms : 

" In that day shall five cities* in the land of Egypt 
Speak the language of Canaan, 
And swear to the Lord of hosts; 
One shall be called, The city of destruction.t 
In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord 
In the midst of the land of Egypt, 
And a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. 
And it shall be ibr a sign and for a witness 
Unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt : 
For they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, 
And he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, 
And he shall deliver them. 
And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, 
And the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, 
And shall do sacrifice and oblation ; 
Yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it."t 

Isa. xix. 18—21. 



* These " five cities" were probably those in which the Jews chiefly 
resided. Some think a definite number is used for an indefinite one, 
while others conceive that four of the cities are those named Jer. xhv. I, 
the fifth being that particularly mentioned as " The city of destruction," 
or, as it is in the margin, Heres, " The city of the sun." 

t There has been much discussion about this clause, arising from the 
tvord rendered destruction. The Hebrew word, hcres, by the change of a 
single letter, easily mistaken by a transcriber, becomes cheres, the sun, 
which makes the clause read, " The city of the sun," which would refer 
to Heliopolis. Lowth, Boothroyd, and others, follow the Vulgate in 
adopting the last reading. Onias understood the prophecy, that the tem- 
ple should be built in the district or nome of Heliopolis, where it was 
accordingly built on the site of a ruined temple of Bubastis. He called 
the city which contained (he temple after his own name. Onion. It was 
situated about twenty-four miles from Memphis, and remained till the 
time of Vespasian, who ordered it to be destroyed. 

; Philo estimated the number of Jews in Egypt at not less than one 
uiillion. Through the presence of so many, together with the translation 
of the Old Testament into Greek at the instance of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
the Lord must in some degree have been known in Egypt, and the Egyp 
(ians have known the Lord. We read, indeed. Acts ii. 10, of dwellers m 
Egypt, " Jews and pro.sciytes," among tiiosc who went up to Jerusalem 
to keep the feast of Pontero.-,!. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 237 

The event here predicted by Isaiah is one of the most sin- 
gular, and at the same time the most remote from all proba- 
bility of ever coming to pass. Nothing was more strictly for- 
bidden to the Jevi^s than to offer sacrifices to God in any other 
place but the temple at Jerusalem. How sacrilegious, then, 
must it have been considered by the Jews to erect a temple 
elsewhere, especially in a land so polluted with gross idolatry 
as Egypt was, and among a people who were always at en- 
mity with the people of God ! But the word of God had gone 
forth that such an event should occur ; and no power or device 
could prevent or retard its accomplishment. 

In the year b. c. 146, Philometer marched with a large 
army into Palestine, to the aid of his son-in-law against De- 
metrius, the son of that Demetrius whom they had deposed, 
and who now sought to regain his father's kingdom. All the 
cities opened their gates to him, according to orders they re- 
ceived from Alexander. Upon his arrival, however, at Pto- 
lemais, a conspiracy was discovered, which had been formed 
by Ammonius, the prime minister of Alexander, against the 
life of Philometer. As Alexander refused to deliver up the 
traitor, he concluded that he had entered into the conspiracy 
himself, and in consequence took his daughter from him, gave 
her to Demetrius, and made a treaty with him, by which he 
engaged to aid him in re-ascending the throne of his father, 
which he accomplished. He marched against Alexander, 
routed his army in the neighbourhood of Antioch, and there- 
by estabhshed Demetrius upon the throne. But in this battle 
he received wounds of which he died some few days after. 
His death occurred b. c. 145, after a reign of thirty-five years. 

Polybius, who was the contemporary of Philometer, gives 
him this character : " He was an enemy to all kinds of cru- 
elty and oppression, averse from spilling the blood of his sub- 
jects, and so much inclined to mercy, that during the period 
of his long reign, he put none of his nobles, nor even of the 
citizens of Alexandria to death, though some of them well 
deserved it. Though his brother," continues the same writer, 
"had provoked him to the highest degree, and committed 
such crimes as to others would have seemed unpardonable, 
yet he not only forgave him, but treated him with the afFec 
.tion of a kind brother." Josephus and Justin agree with Po- 
lybius in their estimate of Philometer' s character ; but the au 
thor of the book of Maccabees represents him as an ambitious 
prince, trampling under foot the most sacred laws of justice 
and nature, to raise himself on the ruins of his son-in-few, 



238 HISTORY OF THE rCYPTIANS. 

Alexander Balas. Aristobulus, an Alexandrian Jew, and a 
peripatetic philosopher of great note, is said to have been Pto- 
lemy's preceptor, and to have dedicated to him a comment 
which he wrote on the five books of Moses. 

PTOLEMY PHYSCON. 

The succession of Egypt was attended in the first instance 
with some difficulty. Cleopatra, wife of Philometer, endea- 
voured to place the crown upon the head of her son. She 
was supported in her designs by some of the lords of the 
kingdom ; but others, declaring for Physcon, sent ambassadors 
to desire him to come to Alexandria. This obliging Cleo- 
patra to take measures for her defence, she had recourse to 
Onias and Dositheus, two Jews, who had the sole manage- 
ment of affairs during the last years of Philometer's reign. 
These, with an army of their countrymen, hastened to her as- 
sistance. Before hostilities commenced, however, matters were 
compromised by the interposition of Thermus a Roman am- 
bassador at that time in Alexandria. It was agreed that 
Physcon should marry Cleopatra, and educate her son, who 
should be declared heir to the crown ; and that Physcon should 
possess it during his life. But Physcon had no sooner 
married the queen, than looking with jealousy on the young 
prince, Avhose birth entitled him to the crown, he murdered 
him in the arms of his mother. 

The reader has seen that the surname of Physcon given to 
this prince was properly a nickname. That which he took 
himself was Eiiergeles, which signifies " a benefactor." The 
Alexandrians changed it into that of Cacoergetes, or, "one 
who delights in doing harm,^' a name to which he had a just 
title ; for he was the most cruel, wicked, and at the same time, 
the most vile and despicable of the Ptolemies who reigned in 
Egypt. He began his reign with the murder of his nephew, 
and he continued it to the last with similar cruelty and wicked- 
ness. He was no sooner seated on the throne, than he caused 
all those to be put to death who had lamented the fate of the 
young prince. Transported with rage against the Jews, also, 
for having espoused the cause of Cleopatra, he used them 
more like slaves than subjects. His own people were treated 
no better by him than the Jews. Every day he put some of 
them to death, either on groundless suspicions, or for trifling 
faults, or to gratify his inhuman caprice. Those who had 
the ffreatest share in the confidence of his brother Philometer 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 239 

were sacrificed the first, and next to them most of the leading 
men, who had declared in his own favour against Cleopatra ; 
for as they had by their interest placed him on the throne, so 
he apprehended they might drive him from it, and therefore, 
says Justin, he resolved to despatch his own friends, after he 
had rid himself of his brother's. 

In the second year of his reign, queen Cleopatra brought 
him a son, while he was employed in the performance of cer- 
tain religious ceremonies, practised, according to the rites of 
Egypt, hj their kings soon after their accession to the throne. 
Physcon was transported with joy at the birth of a son, whom 
he designed for a successor, and he called him Memphitis, 
from the ceremonies which he was discharging at the time of 
his birth in the city of Memphis. He could not, however, 
forbear his cruel practices, even during the public rejoicings 
on this festive occasion : he caused some of the lords of Cy- 
rene to be barbarously murdered for having cast some reflec- 
tions on one of his favourite concubines, named Irene. 

On his return to Alexandria, Physcon banished all those 
who had been brought up with his brother Philometer, and, 
without provocation, gave his guards, who consisted of Greek 
nnd Asiatic mercenaries, free liberty to murder and plunder 
the inhabitants at pleasure ; and the cruelties practised by 
these inhuman wretches upon this license are not to be ex- 
pressed. Justin and Athenasus tell us, that not only the pri- 
vate houses, but the streets and the temples streamed daily 
with the blood of the innocent citizens. The Alexandrians 
were so terrified, indeed, that many of them fled into other 
countries, leaving their native city almost desolate. To sup- 
ply their places, when he perceived that nothing remained 
but empty houses, he caused proclamation to be made in all 
the neighbouring countries, that whosoever should come and 
settle there should meet with the greatest encouragement and 
advantages. Upon this invitation, great numbers flocked 
thither, to whom he gave the habitations of those who had 
fied, and whom he admitted to all the rites, privileges, and 
immunities of the former citizens. 

As there were among those who quitted Egypt on this oc- 
casion, many grammarians, philosophers, physicians, geome- 
tricians, and masters of other liberal arts and sciences, by 
their means learning was revived in Greece, Asia Minor, the 
islands of the Archipelago, and in other places where they 
settled. The wars which had been raging for a long space 
of time among the successors of Alexander had almost extin- 



240 lUSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

guished learning in those parts ; and it M^ould have been 
entirely lost, but for the protection and encouragement given 
to learned men by the Ptolemies of Egypt. The first of these 
princes, by founding his museum, or college, for the suppoit 
of those who devoted their time and talents to the study of 
the liberal arts, and adding to it an extensive library for their 
use, drew most of the learned men out of Greece to his me- 
tropolis. The second and third following the founder's stepe, 
Alexandria became the principal city in the world, where the 
liberal arts and sciences were most cultivated, whilst they 
were almost wholly neglected every where else. Whence, 
when the Alexandrians were driven by the cruelty and op- 
pression of this wicked tyrant into foreign countries, as most 
of them had been bred up in the knowledge of some science 
or other, they were qualified to gain themselves a mainte- 
nance by teaching, in the places where they settled, the partic- 
ular arts they had studied. The)- opened schools for this 
purpose, and being satisfied with a small salary, great num- 
bers of scholars flocked to them. By this means, the several 
branches of learning were revived in the eastern parts in the 
same manner as they were in later ages in the western, after 
the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. 

While foreigners were flocking from all parts to Alexan- 
dria, (about B. c. 1 36,) three Roman ambassadors, P. Scipio 
Africanus the younger, Sp.' Mummius, and L. Metellus, 
landed at that port. They had been sent by their republic to 
visit the countries which were subject to Rome, as Greece 
and Macedon, and those also that were in alliance with her ; 
their commission being to pass through Greece and Macedon, 
and from thence to the courts of the princes of Egypt, Syria, 
Pergamus, Bithynia, etc. ; to observe the state of affairs in 
each kingdom, to compose what differences they should dis- 
cover among their kings, and to settle in all places peace and 
concord. 

Physcon received these ambassadors Avith great magnifi- 
cence. During their residence at Alexandria, also, he enter- 
tained them in the most hospitable manner. He caused them 
to be served with whatever was most delicate and exquisite ; 
but they never touched any thing but the most simple and 
common meats, despising the luxuries, as serving only to en- 
ervate body and mind ; so great, even at this date, were the 
moderation and temperance of the Romans. They knew 
that, 



HISTURY OF THE EGYPTJANS. 241 

" If thou well observ'st 
The rule of not too much, by temperance taught, 
In what thou eat'st and drink'st, seeking from thence 
Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight, 
Till many years over thy head return, 
So may'st thou live till like ripe fruit thou dropp'st 
Into thy mother's lap," Milton. ■ 

When the ambassadors had examined Alexandria, and 
regulated the affairs which had brought them thither, they 
sailed up the Nile to visit Memphis and the other parts of 
Egypt. In this progress, observing the great number of 
cities, the vast multitude of inhabitants, the fertility of the soil, 
etc., they concluded that nothing was wanting to render the 
kingdom of Egypt one of the most powerful states in the 
world, but a prince of abilities and application. They were, 
therefore, pleased to find a prince on the throne destitute of 
every qualification that was necessary for obtaining such 
power. Nothing, indeed, was so wretched as the idea he 
gave them of himself in all his audiences. The deformity 
of his body, corresponding with that of his mind, disgusted 
every beholder. But over this it is better to draw a veil. 

The ambassadors had no sooner left Egypt, than Physcon 
began to exercise the same cruelties upon the new inhabitants 
of Alexandria. No day passed without some signal instance 
of his cruelty and tyranny ; such of the citizens as were pos- 
sessed of large property being daily destroyed, under som(. 
pretence or other. 

It has been before observed that Physcon married Cleopa- 
tra, his brother's w^idow, who was also their sister ; he now 
fell in love with a daughter she had by Philometer, who was 
also called Cleopatra. He first violated the chastity of this 
princess, then divorced her mother, and married her. But 
his race of iniquity was now drawing to a close. These, and 
many other vile excesses of the like nature, exasperated the 
Alexandrians to such a degree, that they Avaited only for an 
opportunity of taking up arms to rid themselves of the tyrant 
who ruled over them. 

That Physcon kept the crown on his head, under so gene- 
ral an aversion of his subjects, was owing to Hierax, his 
chief minister. This man was a native of Antioch, and had, 
in the reign of Alexander Balas, in a joint commission with. 
Diodotus, called afterwards Tryphon, governed the city of 
Antioch. When adverse events happened in that city, he re- 
tired into Egypt, and there, entering into the service of Phys- 

VOL. I. 21 



242 HISTORY OF THE EGyPTlANS. 

con, was raised to the chief command of the army, and 
charged with the management of the affairs of the kingdom. 
As he was a man of great valour and wisdom, he took care 
to gain the affections of his soldiery by paying them punc- 
tually, and to balance, so far as lay in his power, by his good 
and wise administration, the evil conduct of his master. By 
this means, he kept the kingdom quiet for several years, 
though ruled, says Diodorus, by the most contemptible, brutal, 
and cruel tyrant that had ever swayed a sceptre. 

But afterwards, about b. c. 130, Hierax being either dead 
or removed from his station,* the Alexandrians began openly 
to complain of their oppressions, and to throw out threats 
against their king, unless he changed the tenor of his con- 
duct. Physcon, however, ever fruitful in invention of deeds 
of cruelty, resolved to put it out of their power to attempt any 
thing against him, by destroying all their young men, in 
whom the strength of the city consisted. Accordingly, when 
they were one day assembled in the gymnasium, or place of 
their public exercises, he caused fire to be set to it, whilst at 
the same time he invested it by his mercenaries, so that they 
all perished in the flames or by the sword. But this exaspe- 
rated the people to the highest degree ; and, guided by their 
rage and despair, they ran to the king's palace, set fire to it, 
and reduced it to ashes. Physcon made his escape undis- 
covered, and retired to the island of Cyprus, with Cleopatra 
his wife and Memphitis his son. Upon his arrival there, he 
was informed that the people of Alexandria had placed the 
government in the hands of Cleopatra, whom he had repu- 
diated ; and he immediately raised troops to make war upon 
the new queen and her adherents. 

At this time, b. c. 129, he committed two of the most fear- 
ful acts of iniquity that ever stained the annals of crime. He 
had appointed his son governor of Cyrene, but fearing lest the 
Alexandrians should place him on the throne of Egypt, he 
sent for him into Cyprus, and, as soon as he was landed, 
caused him to be assassinated. This new act of cruelty pro- 
voked the people still more against him. They pulled down, 
and dashed to pieces, all the statues that had been erected to 
his honour in Alexandria. This led to the second crime. 
Supposing this to have been executed at the instigation of his 
divorced queen, to be revenged on her, he slew Memphitis, 

• Athensus says that he was slain by order of Physcon, as were his 
other friends ; but he does not mention the time. 



HISTORY OP THE EGYPTIANS. 243 

her son, a prince who was equally admired for his heauty 
and his virtues. Nor did his^ revenge stop here. He caused 
his mangled body to be enclosed in a chest, with the head 
entire, that it might be known, and then sent it by one of his 
guards to Alexandria. The messenger was ordered to wait 
till the queen's birth-day, which approached, and which was 
to be celebrated with extraordinary pomp and magnificence, 
and then to present it. This order, Avhich emanated from the 
most refined cruelty, was strictly executed. The box was 
conveyed to the queen, in the midst of the public rejoicings, 
and changed the mirth of all present into sadness. But it 
was not sorrow alone that was there felt. The horror and 
detestation which the sight of such an object stirred up in 
every breast, against the author of such a monstrous and un- 
paralleled cruelty, cannot be expressed. The present, also, 
being exposed to the view of the public, had the same effect 
on the populace as it had on the nobles at court. They saw 
what they had to expect from a king who had thus treated 
his own son ; and nothing was thought of but how to prevent 
the tyrant from reascending the throne. An army was soon 
raised, and the command of it given to Marsyas, whom the 
queen had appointed general, enjoining him to take all neces- 
sary steps for the defence of his country. 

On the other hand, Physcon, having hired a numerous 
body of mercenaries, sent them, (b. c. 128,) under the com- 
mand of Hegolochus, against the Alexandrians. The two 
armies met on the frontiers of Egypt, and a battle ensued, 
wherein the Egyptian army was entirely defeated, and their 
general Marsyas taken prisoner, and sent in chains to 
Physcon. 

Every one expected that the tyrant would have put the 
fallen general to death, first making him suffer the most ex- 
quisite torments. But he acted contrary to his usual course. 
Finding by experience that his cruelties only drew misfor- 
tunes upon him, he resolved to try whether he could, by 
using lenity, regain the affections of the people. He, there- 
fore, pardoned Marsyas, and set him at liberty. 

Cleopatra being greatly reduced by the loss of her army, 
which was almost entirely destroyed, sent to demand aid of 
Demetrius, king of Syria, who had married her eldest daugh- 
ter by Philometer, promising him the crown of Egypt for his 
reward. Demetrius accepted the proposal, and marched with 
all his forces into Egypt, and there laid siege to Pelusium 
This prince, however, was no less hated by the Syrians for 



244 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

his haughtiness, tyranny, and excesses, than Physcon was 
by the Egyptians. Hence, when they saw him at a distance, 
•and employed in the siege of Pelusium, they took up arms 
against him, which obliged him to hasten back to Syria. 
Cleopatra, being destitute of the aid she expected, and unable 
to withstand Physcon, embarked with all her treasures, and 
set sail for Ptolemais, where her daughter Cleopatra, queen 
of Syria, then resided. 

Upon the flight' of Cleopatra, Physcon returned to Alexan- 
dria, and reassumed the government, there being no power 
in Egypt to withstand him. His first thoughts, after being 
settled anew upon the throne, were, to be revenged on Deme- 
trius for his late invasion. To this end, he set up an impos- 
tor against him, called Alexander Zebina, who drove him 
from his throne, and shared the kingdom with his wife Cleo- 
patra. 

From this time, b. c. 127, Physcon held the kingdom of 
Egypt undisturbed till the twenty-ninth year of his reign, b. 
c. 117, and sixty-seventh of his age, when he died at Alex- 
andria. Over his memory the tears of regret fall trickling 
down. But they are not called forth by respect for his vir- 
tues. They drop for the depravity of human nature exhibited 
in his life. What a monster man may become, when raised 
to power and left to himself, the actions of Physcon reveal. 
Christian reader, be thankful, then, that thou art not placed 
in such circumstances of temptation, and that thou art re- 
strained by a power from above from doing evil : it is the 
grace of God alone that maketh thee to differ from another. 

It can hardly be imagined, that a prince who is represented 
by historians as a monster rather than man, should have de- 
served the reputation of being the restorer of letters, and the 
patron of learned men. But this fact is attested by Athe- 
naeus, Vitruvius, Epiphanius, and others. Athenceus tells 
us, that, in the brief intervals between his debaucheries, he 
applied himself to the study of the polite arts and sciences. 
According to this author, indeed, he had so extensive a know- 
ledge, and so great an ease in discoursing of all kinds of lite- 
rature, that he acquired the surname of the Philologist. The 
same author adds, that he wrote a history, in twenty-four 
books, and a comment on Homer. His history, as Epipha- 
nius informs us, was in great repute among the ancients, and 
often quoted. Galen tells us, that he enriched the Alexan- 
drian library with a great number .of valuable books, which 
he purchased at a vast expense, ha\^ng sent men of learning 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 245 

into all parts of the world for that purpose. He allowed one 
Panaretus, who had been a disciple of Arcesilaus, and who 
was a man of great learning, an annual pension of twelve 
talents, or 2,335/. sterling. This is a notable instance of the 
strange contrarieties that can exist in man, and of the insuffi- 
ciency of literary taste to raise the human character. 

Not lofty intellect the heart keeps clean 
From moral taint, nor yet illumes the mirid, 
By nature dark : grace can alone achieve 
This noble work, and make man meet for heaven. 

A man may astonish the world by his talents, and yet at 
the same time grovel in the lowest depths of human degrada- 
tion. A man may also produce by his talent works, bearing 
upon each page the stamp of morality, aye, and of Christianity 
likewise, and yet lead a Life of shameless immorality. Head- 
knowledge affects not the heart : grace alone can make and 
preserve that holy ; and he who has it not, however refined 
his taste may be, is a sinner in the sight of God. He also 
must be washed in the blood of the Lamb, or he can have no 
part in the matter of salvation. 

CLEOPATRA, PTOLEJIY LATHYRUS, ALEXANDER L 

At his death, Physcon left three sons. The first, named 
Apion, was a natural son ; the two others were legitimate, 
and the children of his niece, Cleopatra, whom he married 
after having repudiated her mother. The eldest of these was 
named Lathyrus and the other Alexander. 

Physcon left the kingdom of Cyrenaica by will to Apion, 
and Egypt to his widow Cleopatra in conjunction with one of 
her sons, whom she should think proper to associate with her. 
The crown belonged, by right of inheritance, to Lathyrus, 
the eldest of his lawful children ; but Cleopatra, looking upon 
Alexander as the most likely to bend to her will, resolved to 
choose him. The people of Alexandria, however, took up 
arms against her for this decision, and obliged her to send for 
Lathyrus from the island of Cyprus, whither she had caused 
him to be banished by his father, and to associate him with 
her on the throne. But before she would suffer him to be 
inaugurated, according to the custom of the country, at Mem- 
phis, she obliged him to repudiate his eldest sister, Cleopatra, 
whom he passionately loved, and to marry Selene, his youngest 
sister, for whom he had but little affection. 

21* 



246 hiStoAV of the Egyptians, 

On his inauguration, Lathyrus look the name of Soter ; hut 
he is called by Strabo, Pliny, Josephus, and other ancient 
Writers, Lathyrus ; and by Athenfcus and Pausanias, Philo- 
meter, " a lover of his mother," which was given him, as the 
la.tter author observes, by antiphrasis, no one having ever 
hated his mother more than he did. The generality of his- 
torians distinguish him by the name of Lathyrus, which, in 
the Greek tongue, signifies a kind of pea, from whence, it is 
supposed, that he had some mark of this description on his 
face. This is very probable ; for the Greek word Lathyrus 
msvvers to the Latin Cicer, whence the family of the Ciceros 
lerived their name ; one of their ancestors having an excres- 
cence like a pea on his face. 

Cleopatra, whom Lathyrus had been obliged to repudiate, 
wiisposed of herself in marriage to Antiochus Cyzicenus, 
carrying with her an army, which she raised in Cyprus, for 
ner marriage portion. By this army, Cyzicenus was enabled 
to make head against Antiochus Grypus, his half-brother and 
competitor. Cyzicenus, however, was defeated by Grjrpus, 
and his wife Cleopatra dragged from one of the temples of 
Antioch, where she had taken sanctuary, and put to death by 
the command of her sister Tryphena, the wife of Grypus. 
These latter events occurred from 1 17 to 113 b. c. 

In the mean time, Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, the mother 
of these two unnatural sisters, did not seem to be affected 
either with the death of the one, or the crime of the other. 
Her mind was so influenced by ambition, that the voice of 
nature was stifled, and all its gentle workings in her breast 
disregarded : her only aim was the support of her authority 
in Egypt, and to continue her reign without control during 
life. To strengthen herself the better, she gave the kingdom 
of Cyprus to Alexander, her younger son, that she might 
be assi^ed agaiiist Lathyrus, should he ever dispute her au- 
thority. 

Lathyrils hlid not reigned long, before his mother, provoked 
at some measures adopted against her will, by base artifices 
gained over the people of Alexandria. The matter is thus 
related by Justin, Pausanias, Porphyry, and Josephus. 
While the two competitors for the crown of Syria were wast- 
ing their strength against each other, b. c. 110. John Hyr- 
canus, prince of the Jews, undertook the siege of Samaria. 
The Samaritans had recourse to Cyzicenus, who marched to 
their relief, but had the misfortune to be overthrown in battl* 
by the two sons of Hyrcanus, who had besipcrpfl thp r^Uca 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAKS. 247 

After this victory, b. c. 109, the two brothers returned to the 
siege, and pursued it with such vigour, that the besieged 
were obliged to implore aid once more of Cyzicenus, who, 
not having sufficient forces of his own for such an attempt, 
requested Lathyrus, king of Egypt, to send him a body of 
troops to be employed against the victorious Jews. Lathyrus 
complied, and ordered 6,000 men into Syria, contrary to the 
opinion and incHnation of Cleopatra. She carried her resent- 
ment of this and some other encroachments so far, that she 
took his wife Selene from him, and obliged him, b. c. 107, to 
quit Egypt. As this could not be effected without the con- 
sent of the Alexandrians, the unnatural mother stirred up the 
populace against her son ; she caused some of her favourite 
eunuchs, on whose fidelity she could depend, to be wounded, 
and then, bringing them covered with blood into the public 
assembly of the Alexandrians, pretended that they had been 
thus treated and abused by Lathyrus, for defending her per- 
son against his wicked attempts. By this base fiction, she in- 
flamed the minds of the Alexandrians to such a degree, that 
they rose in a tumult against him, and would have killed him, 
had he not saved his life by retiring on board a ship, which 
immediately set sail and carried him out of danger. 

Upon the flight of Lathyrus, Cleopatra sent for her younger 
son, Alexander, on whom she had bestowed the kingdom of 
Cyprus ; and having declared him king of Egjrpt, in the 
room of Lathyrus, obliged the latter to be content with 
Cyprus. This event occurred, according to Porphyry, in the 
eighth year of Alexander's reign in Cyprus, and eleventh of 
Cleopatra's in Egypt. It is dated b. c. 107. 

Two years after this revolution, Alexander Jannosus, 
king of the Jews, having settled affairs at home, marched 
against the inhabitants of Ptolemais, and having vanquished 
them in battle, obliged them to retire into their city, where he 
besieged them. In this extremity, they despatched mes- 
sengers to Cyprus, imploring the aid of Lathyrus, and re- 
questing him to come personally to their relief. The mes- 
sengers, however, were scarcely gone, when they began to 
repent of what they had done. They apprehended that 
Cleopatra, upon their entering into an alliance with Lathyrus, 
would march against them with all the forces of Egypt, so 
that they would suffer as much from Lathyrus, as a friend, as 
from Alexander, as an enemy. Upon this consideration, they 
resolved to defend themselves, and they despatched other mes- 
sengers to Lathyrus, to acquaint him with their resolution. 



248 insTORT.oF the Egyptians. 

In the mean time, Lathyrus had increased his army to the 
number of 30,000 men, and prepared vessels to transport 
them thither ; and, notwithstanding their remonstrances, he 
landed his forces in Phenicia, and marched towards Ptole- 
mais, encamping at a small distance from the city. But the 
inhabitants refusing to admit his ambassadors into the town, 
or to enter into any treaty with him, he was for some time 
greatly perplexed to know what course to pursue. 

He was relieved from this perplexity by messengers arriving 
at his camp from Zoilus, prince of Dora, and from the people 
of Gaza, Avho desired his assistance' against the Jews ; for 
Alexander, having divided his army, besieged Ptolemais 
with one part of his forces, and had sent the other to lay 
waste the territories of Zoilus and Gaza. Lathyrus embraced 
this opportunity of employing his troops, and marched to their 
assistance. This obliged Alexander to raise the siege of Pto- 
lemais, and lead back his army to watch the motions of La- 
thyrus. As he was not able to cope with so powerful an 
enemy, he pretended to court his friendship, and entering 
into a treaty with him, he engaged to pay him 400 talents of 
silver, on condition that he would deliver Zoilus into his 
hands, with the places in his possession. Lathyrus closed 
with this proposal, and accordingly seized on Zoilus, and all 
his territories, in order to deliver them up to Alexander. 

In the mean time, he was informed that Alexander was 
negociating with Cleopatra, in order to bring her against him 
with all her forces, and drive him out of Palestine, on Avhich 
Lathyrus became his declared enemy, and resolved to do him 
all the injury in his power. Accordingly, the next year, b. c. 
104, having divided his army into two bodies, he detached 
one of them to form the siege of Ptolemais, for not having 
admitted his ambassadors, while he marched in person with 
the other against Alexander. He took Asochis, a city of 
Galilee, on a sabbath day, and carried away from thence 
much treasures and a great number of captives. From thence 
he advanced to Sepphoris, another city of the same country, 
which he likewise invested. He was soon, however, obliged 
to raise the siege of this city ; for intelligence arrived inform- 
ing him that Alexander was advancing to give him battle, at 
the head of a numerous army. 

The two armies met at Asophos, not far from the Jordan, 
and they engaged with the utmost fury. Victory was for a 
long time doubtful ; eight thousand of Alexander's soldiers, 
who carried brazen bucklers, linving fought with great intre- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 249 

pidity and resolution. But at length the Jews were routed, 
after having lost a great number slain, and many prisoners. 
The success of Lathyrus was chiefly owing to one Philoste- 
phanus, who, observing that his soldiers were ready to fly, 
being warmly charged with the Jewish targeteers, flanked 
the enemy with fresh troops, put them in confusion, and 
obliged them to give ground, and save themselves by a pre- 
cipitate flight. 

A most barbarous action is related to have been committed 
by Lathyrus on this occasion. Having taken up his quarters, 
in the evening after this victory, in the neighbouring villages, 
and finding them crowded with women and children, he 
caused them all to be put to the sword, and their mangled 
limbs to be put into boiling cauldrons, as though he intended 
to make a repast with them for his army. His design was 
to make the Jews believe that his troops fed upon human 
flesh, and thereby strike a greater dread of his army into the 
neighbouring country. This circumstance is related by Jo- 
sephus, on the authority of Strabo and Nicolaus Damascenus. 
For the honour of humanity, we would fain disbelieve this 
story ; but it is certain that Lathyrus, after the death of Alex- 
ander, ravaged and desolated the whole country, the Jews 
being utterly unable to oppose his progress. 

This Adctory, and the results that followed, alarmed Cleo- 
patra. She apprehended that if Lathyrus should make him- 
self master of Judea and Phenicia, he would be enabled to 
invade Egypt, and recover that kingdom. She, therefore, re- 
solved to put a stop to his further progress. She commanded 
an army to be raised with all possible expedition, under the 
command of Chalcias and Ananias, two Jews, in whom she 
placed great confidence. At the same time, she equipped a 
powerful fleet, with a great number of transports, and, putting 
her troops on board, she embarked with them, and set sail 
for Phenicia. She carried with her a great sum of money, 
and her richest jewels, which she deposited in the isle of Cos, 
in case of untoward events. She landed in Phenicia b. c. 
103. 

The arrival of Cleopatra made Lathyrus immediately raise 
the siege of Ptolemais, and he retired in great haste to Coslo- 
Syria. Cleopatra despatched Chalcias, with one division of 
her army, after him, and marched with the other to Ptole- 
mais, expecting the citizens would open the gates to her. 
But in this she was disappointed ; they refused all alliance 



250 ftfSTORV OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

With het, and she invested the place, with a design to redttbe 
ft by force. 

In the mean time, Chalcias having lost his life in the pur- 
suit of Lathyrus, that prince, b. c. 102, taking advantage of 
the disorder occasioned in the army by the loss of their gen- 
eral, marched with all his troops into Egypt, hoping to find 
it unprovided with forces in the absence of his mother, who 
had carried her best troops with her into Phenicia. But his 
hopes were ill-founded. The forces which Cleopatra had 
left for the defence of the country bravely defended it, till 
others, which she had despatched from Phenicia upon receiv- 
ing advice of the invasion, arrived. Lathyrus was, in conse- 
quence, obliged to return to Palestine, where he took up his 
winter quarters at Gaza. 

Cleopatra pushed the siege of Ptolemais with so much 
vigour, that she at length reduced it. As soon as she entered 
the city, Alexander made her a visit, and brought rich 
presents with him to recommend himself to her favour. He 
was successful in his application ; but what conduced most 
to this was, his hatred for her son Lathyrus, which alone was 
sufficient to insure him a favourable reception with Cleopa- 
tra ; tiius reversing the order of nature, Avhose dictates are, 
love to our offspring. An inspired prophet has asked — " Can 
a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have 
compassion on the son of her womb?" Isa. xlix. 15 ; there- 
by indicating that such conduct was foreign to human nature. 
The history of Cleopatra declares that the tender mother may 
become the bitter persecutor of her offspring, that affection 
for them may be swallowed up in self-love and vain ambition ; 
and that which is 

• the shade of immortality, 



And in itself a shadow," 

can transform the parent into a monster. 

Some of Cleopatra's courtiers pointed out to her the fair 
opportunity she now had of making herself mistress of Judea, 
and all the dominions of Alexander, by seizing his person, 
earnestly pressing her to perform this foul act. The queen 
was inclined to follow their advice ; but Ananias represented 
to her the infamy of such a deed : that it would be acting 
contrary to the honour and good faith, which are the founda- 
tions of society ; that such conduct would be prejudicial to 
her interests ; and that it Avould draw upon her the abhoT- 
rence of all the Jews dispersed throughout the world. He so 



HISTORY OF THE EGYFTUNS. 251 

effectually prevailed by his arguments and influence with 
Cleopatra, that she abandoned the design, and renewed her 
alliance with Alexander, who having, after his return to Jeru- 
salem, recruited his army, took the field anew, and crossing 
the Jordan, laid seige to Gadara. 

Lathyrus having spent the winter at Gaza, and finding 
that all his efforts against Palestine were of no avail, so long 
as his mother opposed him, left the country, and returned to 
Cyprus. Cleopatra then sailed back into Egypt ; and thus 
Palestine, says Josephus, was delivered from all foreign 
forces, to the great joy of the Jewish nation. 

Being informed, upon her return to Alexandria, that La- 
thyrus had entered into a treaty, at Damascus, with Antiochus 
Cyzicenus, and that with the aid expected from him he was 
preparing to make a new attempt for the recovery of the crown 
of Egypt ; to make a diversion, she gave her daughter Se- 
lene, whom she had taken from Lathyrus, to Antiochus Gry- 
pus, sending him at the same time a considerable supply of 
troops and money. By this means, Grypus being enabled to 
renew the war with his brother Cyzicenus, the latter was so 
entirely employed in defending himself, that he could not 
lend any assistance to Lathyrus, who was thereby obliged to 
forego his intentions, and return to Cyprus. 

During these years, Ptolemy Alexander, the younger bro- 
ther, acted the base part of a slave, under the specious appear- 
ance of a sovereign. At length, however, tired out with the 
indignities he suffered from this warlike fury, and terrified 
with the cruelty with which Cleopatra persecuted his brother 
Lathyrus, especially in thus taking from him his wife, and 
giving her to his enemy ; and, moreover, observing that she 
did not scruple to commit the greatest crimes to gratify her 
ambition, that prince did not consider himself any longer safe 
near her, and therefore stole away privately from Alexandria, 
choosing rather to live in safety, than to reign with so wicked 
and cruel a mother, in continual danger of his life. His 
flight alarmed the queen ; for she was well aware that the 
Alexandrians would not suffer her to reign without one of 
her sons. She therefore used all her art to prevail upon 
Alexander to return ; and, after much soUcitation, he was 
prevailed upon to accede to her request. Not long after, 
however, b. c. 89, Cleopatra, not being able to bear a com- 
panion in the supreme authority, nor to admit her son to share 
the honour of the throne with her, resolved to put him to 
death. The prince heard of her resolve, and he prevented 



252 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

its performance by cutting her off first, thus punishing her for 
her crimes, but by a crime equal to her own. Surely, when 
we read of such dark deeds as these being committed without 
repugnance under the influence of paganism, we ought to 
lift up our heart unto the Giver of all good for the privileges 
we enjoy — for living in a country where, and at an age when, 
doctrines are promulgated which inculcate the love of God 
and man, and which are calculated to bind mankind together 
in one holy bond of love and concord. 

The crime of Alexander (for it was a crime which even 
his mother's evil designs cannot extenuate) did not remain 
unpunished. As soon as it was known that the son had 
caused the mother to be put to death, the enormity of the 
crime stirred up all his subjects against him. They would 
not suffer a parricide to reign over them, but drove him out 
of the country with ignominy, and recalled Lathyrus from 
Cyprus, and replaced him on the throne. 

For some time, Alexander led a rambling life in the island 
of Cos, while his brother returned in triumph, amidst the ac- 
clamations of his people. But the next year, Alexander, hav- 
ing collected some ships, attempted to return into Egypt. He 
was met at sea by Tyrrhus, Ptolemy's admiral, who defeated 
him, and obliged him to flee to Myra, in Lycia. From Myra, 
he steered towards the island of Cyprus, hoping the inhabit- 
ants would declare in his favour, and place him on the throne, 
which his brother had vacated to return to Egypt. But 
Choereas, another of Ptolemy's admirals, came up with him 
while he was preparing to land, and killed him in the engage- 
ment, after he had borne the title of king for the space of 
nineteen years. 

During the troubles that disturbed Egypt. Apion, the 
natural son of Physcon, maintained peace and tranquillity in 
his dominions. At length, after a reign of twenty-one years, 
he died, devising Cyrenaica to the Romans, in order to se- 
cure them from the miseries in which the countries subject to 
the Egyptian government were involved. 

Lathyrus, upon re-ascending the throne of Egypt, began to 
settle all things upon tbeir ancient footing, and to remedy, as 
far as possible, the many disorders and abuses which had 
crept in during the late troubles. But the inhabitants of 
Thebes refused to submit to his regulations, and even at- 
tempted to shake off the yoke, and resume their ancient liber- 
ties. Lathyrus marched against the rebels, defeated them, 
and laid siege to their city, which they defiended with incrrdi- 



HISTORV OF THE EGYPTIANS. 253 

ble obstinacy for three years. At the end of that time. b. c. 
82, he took it, and, by way of punishment, suffered the en- 
raged soldiers to plunder it, who left every where melancholy 
marks of their avarice and cruelty. Thebes, which till then 
had been one of the greatest and wealthiest cities of Egypt, 
was reduced so effectually, that it never after made any figure 
in history. 

Towards the latter end of the reign of Lathyrus, Lucullus 
being sent by Sylla to procure ships from the princes who re- 
tained any regard for the Roman name, in order to block up 
the ports of Piraeeus and Munychia, landed at Alexandria ; 
where the inhabitants, pursuant to the orders of Lathyrus, re- 
ceived him with those honours which were paid only to the 
kings of Egypt. The king, however, could not be prevailed 
upon to part with any of his ships, pretending that he was 
threatened with a civil war in his own dominions. He there- 
fore dismissed Lucullus, after having presented him with his 
portrait, cut in an emerald of great value. 

Lathyrus did not long survice the ruin of Thebes. The 
next year, b. c. 81, he died, after having reigned thirty -six 
years ; eleven jointly with his mother in Egypt, eighteen in 
Cyprus, and seven alone in Egypt, after the death of his mo- 
ther. He was succeeded by his only legitimate child, Avhose 
f)roper name was Berenice, but who, according to the estab- 
ished custom of that family, was called Cleopatra, under 
which name her brief history is here introduced. 

CLEOPATRA. ALEXANDER II. 

Sylla, at the time of Cleopatra's accession to the throne, 
was perpetual dictator at Rome ; and his power was so great, 
that he gave or took away crowns at pleasure. Hearing, 
therefore, that Lathyrus was dead, without male issue, he 
sent Alexander, the son of that Alexander who had reigned 
before Lathyrus, and murdered his mother, to succeed his 
uncle in the kingdom, as the next heir of the male line. 

This Alexander had met with many adventures. When 
Cleopatra, the mother of Alexander and Lathyrus, marched 
with her army into Phenicia against the latter, she sent her 
grandson, Alexander, of whom we are now speaking, into the 
island of Cos, wdth a large sum of money, jewels, and other 
valuable articles, as noticed before. When Mithridates made 
himself master of that Island, the inhabitants delivered into 
his hands the Egyptian prince, and the treasures which Cleo- 

vnT I '2 '2 



254 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

patra deposited there with him. The king of Pontus gave 
him an education suitable to his birth ; but he, not thinking 
himself safe with a prince who had imbrued his hands in the 
blood of his own children, fled from the court of Mithridates, 
and took refuge in the camp of Sylla, w^ho was then at war in 
Asia. From that time, he had resided in the dictator's family, 
some say, as a domestic, till news was brought to Rome of the 
death of Lathyrus. Sylla then sent him to take possession of 
the crown of Egypt, as the proper heir of the deceased king. 
But the Alexandrians having placed Cleopatra, the daughter 
of Lathyrus, on the throne, six months before his arrival in 
Egypt, some difficulty occurred. To compromise the matter, 
however, and avoid displeasing Sylla, the Alexandrians pre- 
vailed upon Alexander to marry Cleopatra, and reign jointly 
with her. 

The nuptials were celebrated with great pomp and mag- 
nificence ; but Alexander, either out of dislike to Cleopatra, 
or wishing to have no associate on the throne, caused her to be 
assassinated, nineteen days after the marriage. 

Porphyry and Appian tell us, that the Alexandrians, pro- 
voked at this murder, and the haughty and imperious airs 
their new king assumed, rose up in arms, surrounded his 
palace, and dragging him into the gymnasium, put him to 
death, after a reign of nineteen days. Suetonius and Cicero, 
however, make it manifest that he reigned fifteen years after 
this tragical act, during which time he made himself odious 
to his subjects by his cruelty and his vices, till at length they 
made a general insurrection, and would have sacrificed him 
to their resentment, had he not withdrawn from Egypt. He 
fled flrst to Pompey, who was then in that neighbourhood, 
carrying on the war with Mithridates, king of Pontus, and he 
offered him rich presents to espouse his cause, and restore 
him to the crown. But Pompey refused to meddle with this 
matter, as being foreign to his commission. Alexander then 
took refuge in the city of Tyre, whither he had sent before a 
great part of his treasures. While in this city, Alexander 
sent ambassadors to the Roman senate, to make an appeal 
against his rebellious subjects : but, dying before the negotia- 
tion was finished, he made over, by his last will, all his rights 
to the Roman people, declaring them heirs to his kingdom, in 
order that he might raise a dispute between Rome and his 
rival, Auletes. v^ horn the Egyptians had placed on the throne. 
B. c. 65. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 266 

PTOLEMY AULETES, BERENICE, SELETJCUS, ARCHELATJS. 

Ptolemy Auletes was the natural son of Ptolemy Lathyrus. 
He was surnamed Auletes, or, "the player upon the flute," 
because he piqued himself so much upon the skill he dis- 
played on this instrument, that he disputed the prize for play- 
ing on the flute in the public games. Strabo tells us that 
Auletes surpassed all the kings who reigned before him in 
the effeminacy of his manners, and was no less infamous on 
that account than Physcon was for his wickedness. He took 
great pleasure in imitating the effeminacies of the Bacchanals, 
dancing in a female dress, and in the same measures they 
used during the solemnity of their god Bacchus : hence he is 
called by some historians, Dionysius Neos, or the New 
Bacchus. 

As Auletes had only a dubious right to the crown, 
and the Romans pretending that, in virtue of the last 
will of Alexander, his dominions devolved upon their re- 
public, his first care was to cause himself to be declared an 
ally of Rome, which was a certain means of being acknow- 
ledged lawful king of Egypt. This he obtained of Julius 
Cesar, who was the consul at Rome. That ambitious man, 
who believed all expedients just that conduced to his ends, 
being greatly in debt, sold him the alliance of Rome for 
6,000 talents, that is 1,262,500Z. sterling ; part of which was 
to be paid to himself, and part to Pompey, whose interest was 
necessary for obtaining the consent of the people. 

Though the yearly revenues of Egypt were twice this 
sum, Auletes could not raise it immediately without overtax- 
ing his subjects, which occasioned general discontent through- 
out the kingdom. 

At this time, e. c. 58, while the Egyptians were dissatisfied 
with the conduct of Auletes, and even ready to take up arms 
against him, an unjust decree was carried at Rome by the 
tribune Clodius for deposing Ptolemy, king of Cyprus, 
seizing the kingdom for the republic, and confiscating his 
effects. When the Alexandrians heard of the intention of the 
republic, they pressed Auletes to demand that island as an an- 
cient appendage to Egypt ; and on refusal, to declare war 
against Rome. This was opposed by Auletes : upon which 
the Alexandrians flew to arms, and surrounding the palace, 
Would have sacrificed him to their fury ; but having timely 
notice of the insurrection, he withdrew from Alexandria, 



266 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

crossed Egypt, and embarked for Rhodes with a design to 
implore the assistance of his former protectors at Rome. 

Having arrived at Rhodes, Auletes was informed that Cato, 
who after his death was called Cato of Utica, had arrived 
there some time before, being charged by Clodius to put in 
execution the unjust decree before mentioned. Auletes, de- 
sirous to confer with a man of his prudence and integrity 
about his affairs, sent immediately to acquaint him with his 
arrival, expecting that he would without delay come and wait 
upon him. But he was mistaken. The proud Roman in- 
formed the messenger that if the king of Egypt had any 
thing to say to Cato, he might, if he thought proper, come to 
his house. Auletes, accordingly, waited upon Cato, who did 
not vouchsafe to rise when the king entered his chamber, and 
he saluted him only as a private person. Auletes was surprised 
at this ; for the simplicity and modesty of the Roman dress 
and equipage by no means accorded with so much haughti- 
ness. But he was still more surprised, whea Cato, after he 
had laid the situation of his affairs before him, blamed him 
for leaving Egypt, the richest kingdom in the Avorld, in order 
to expose himself to insults and indignities at Rome, nothing 
being in request there, at this date, but wealth, power, and 
grandeur. He did not scruple to tell him, that though he 
should sell all Egypt, it would not suffice their cupidity. He 
advised him therefore, to return to Egypt, and reconcile him- 
self with his subjects; adding, that he was ready to accom- 
pany him thither, and employ his mediation and good offices 
in his behalf Ptolemy, reflecting on what Cato told him, 
perceived the error he had committed in quitting his king- 
dom, and entertained some thoughts of returning to it ; but 
the friends he had with him, being gained by Pompey to urge 
him onwards to Rome, dissuaded him from following Cato's 
wholesome advice, of which he afterwards repented. 

On his arrival at Rome, Auletes found, to his great concern 
that Julius Cesar, on whom he chiefly relied, was making 
war in Gaul. Pompey, however, who was there, gave him 
an apartment in his house, and omitted nothing that lay in his 
power to serve him. But notwithstanding Auletes possessed 
the protection of so powerful a man, he was forced to go from 
house to house to solicit the suffrages of the senators. At 
length, after he had spent vast sums in procuring a strong 
party, he was, by the interest of Pompey, permitted to lay his 
complaints before the senate. This he did with much art; 
exaggerating the hard usage he had met with from his re- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 257 

bellious subjects, and putting the senators in mind of his al- 
liance with the republic, by the articles of which they were 
bound to support him against his enemies both foreign and 
domestic. 

While Auletes was thus making interest at Rome, and 
courting the republic for her consent to his being restored by 
force of arms, the Alexandrians, being informed of what 
passed in Italy, sent an embassy to the senate, consisting of a 
hundred citizens of distinction, to justify their revolt. Dion, 
a celebrated academic philosopher, who had many powerful 
friends at Rome, was at the head of this embassy ; but Ptole- 
my found means to destroy most of them either at Rome or 
before they arri-ved, which so intimidated the rest, that they 
declined acquitting themselves of their commission, or even 
demanding justice for the murder of their colleagues. 

The rumour of these murders raised the indignation of the 
public, and caused a general alarm. M. Favonius, the Stoic 
philosopher, was the first who declared in senate against 
Ptolemy. Upon his motion it was resolved, that Dion, the 
chief of the embassy, should be directed to attend, in order to 
give upon oath an authentic account of the assassination of the 
ambassadors. Dion, however, was afraid to appear, and he 
was soon after stabbed by an assassin, whom the king had 
hired for that purpose. Auletes, knowing he could depend 
on Pompey's protection, was not ashamed to own himself the 
chief author of that crime, and he even pretended to justify 
the treacherous action. A prosecution was instituted against 
Ascitius the assassin ; and his own accomplices, who were 
for the most part the domestics of Luccius, at whose house 
Dion lodged, attested upon" oath that he committed the crime 
with his own hand ; but notwithstanding his guilt was clear- 
ly proved, Ascitius was acquitted. An action was then 
brought against the judges for selling themselves to Ptolemy 
and betraying their trust ; but Pompey and his faction em- 
ployed all their interest against the accusers, and the venal 
judges were justified, and injustice triumphed. 

Whether Auletes thought that he had nothing fixrther to 
transact at Rome, or apprehended danger if he continued there 
any longer, is not certain, but he set out from thence some 
few days after, and retired to the temple of the goddess at 
Ephesus, (the most venerable asylum in Asia.) there to await 
the decision of the senate. 

Though his evil conduct had made him odious to the 
generality of the Romans, vet, by the interest of Pompey's 
'22* 



258 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAiS'S. 

faction, a decree was carried in the senate, whereby it was 
enacted, that the Egyptians should he compelled by force of 
arms to receive their king. A contest now arose Avho should 
be charged with the honour of reconducting him thither 
No one had more reason to expect it than P. Lentulus Spin- 
ther, the proconsul, he having been appointed governor of 
Silicia, and being supported by the interest and eloquence of 
Cicero. Pompey and many others were desirous of perform- 
ing this office, well knowing that it would be attended with 
an accumulation of wealth. After several months' warm de- 
bate, however, Lentulus was appointed to the exclusion of 
Pompey, whose presence it was pretended was necessary at 
Rome, he being charged with the care of maintaining plenty 
there. 

The affairs of Auletes now, b. c. 57, made more noise than 
ever at Rome. One of the tribunes, C. Portius Cato, an ac- 
tive, enterprising young man, and very eloquent, declared 
himself in frequent harangues against Ptolemy and Lentu- 
lus, and was listened to by the people with pleasure and ap- 
plause. 

The next year, as soon as Lentulus had quitted the office 
of consul, a new device was formed to frustrate his expedition. 
A Sibylline prophecy was forged, which ran thus : " If a 
king of Egypt applies to you for aid, you shall not refuse him 
your amity : but you shall not furnish him with troops, for if 
you do, you will suffer and hazard much." The law re- 
quired that these oracles should never be divulged, before an 
examination by the senate, who suppressed or published them, 
as they thought proper ; laut Cato, apprehending that Pom- 
pey's faction would pass a resolution for its suppression, im- 
mediately presented the priests with whom the Sibylline books 
were deposited to the people, and obliged them by the au- 
thority which his office of tribune gave him, to lay what they 
found in them before the people, without demanding the 
opinion of the senate. 

This was an unexpected stroke to Ptolemy and Lentulus. 
The words of the Sybyl were explicit, and they made all the 
impression upon the vulgar which their enemies desired, and 
the decree which empowered Lentulus to carry back Auletes 
to his dominions was at their request revoked. This Lentu- 
lus had expected, and therefore, not willing to receive the af- 
front publicly, he had, before its revocation, set out for his pro- 
vince in the quality of proconsul. 

This new incident obliged Auletes to change his measures. 



HISTORY OF THE EG-YPTIANS. 259 

Seeing that Lentulus had many enemies at Rome, he abaix- 
doned the decree by which he had been commissioned with his 
re-estabhshment, and demanded by Aramonius, his ambassador, 
whom he had left at Rome, that Pompey should be appointed 
to execute the same commission. His letter being read before 
the multitude by Aulus Plautius, tribune of the people, his col- 
league Caninius was of opinion, that Pompey, attended only 
by two lictors, (for no violence could be used without disobey- 
ing the oracle,) should go into Egypt, and, by his authority 
alone, bring the king into favour with his rebellious subjects. 
But the tribune was opposed by the senate, and Pompey, not- 
withstanding his great interest, was obliged to relinquish the 
pursuit of an honour he ardently desired. 

Pompey being thus excluded, the senators were greatly 
divided in their sentiments. Bibulus and the consul Marcel- 
linus were of opinion that the king should be restored by 
three ambassadors, and that those only should be chosen 
who had no employment in the state. Their view in this pro- 
position was to exclude Lentulus, who was then governor of 
Cnicia and Cyprus. Crassus agreed to the sentiments of 
these two tribunes, as to the re-establishing the king on his 
throne without an army, but opposed the exclusion of such as 
had employments. Cicero never quitted the interest of Len- 
tulus his friend, who, during his consulship, had greatly con- 
tributed to his recall from exile. He was, indeed, so desirous 
that his friend should have the honour of re establishing Au- 
letes on the throne of Egypt, and enjoy the advantages which 
would accrue to him from thence, that, after Lentulus was 
gone into Cilicia, he wrote to him, advising him to advance 
without any further orders from the senate, with all his sea 
and land forces to Alexandria, and oblige the inhabitants by 
force of arms to receive their king. " You are," says he in 
his letter, " the best judge of what you can undertake and 
perform. If you can reduce Alexandria and the other cities 
of Egypt, it is, without doubt, both for your own honour, and 
that of the republic, that you advance thither with your fleet 
and army, leaving the king at Ptolemais, or some adjacent 
place, till you have suhdued the rebels, and left strong gar- 
risons, where necessary, in order to secure peace, so that he 
may return without danger. In this manner, you will rein- 
state him without troops, which our zealots pretend is the 
meaning of the Sibyl." The Romans were prohibited by the 
oracle to re-conduct the king of Egypt with an army ; and 
Cicero was of opinion, that if Lentulus had first reduced Egypt 



260 HISTORY or THE EGYPTIANS. 

by force of a7ms, and then carried back the king without an 
army, he would not have acted contiary ' : 'he prohibition of 
the Sibyl, since it would still be true that ihe king had re- 
turned in peace. One would scare el}' believe that such a 
grave senator as Cicero could be capable of thinking to elude 
the oracle by such an evasion ; but he looked upon it only as 
a pohtical contrivance, (as it in reahty was,) to disappoint the 
expectations of Pompey's faction. But Lentulus, aware of the 
numerous difficulties which would attend this enterprise, fol- 
lowed the advice which Cicero gave him at the conclusion of 
his letter, namely, that he should by no means undertake so 
great an enterprise, unless he could promise hunself certain 
success. 

On his exclusion from the honour of restoring Auletes, 
Pompey Avrote to that prince, advising him to recur to Gabi- 
nius, who commanded in Syria as proconsul, which advice he 
followed. This Gabinius was a man of infamous character, 
ready to undertake any thing for money, without the least 
regard to law, justice, or religion. He had ruined, by his 
robberies and oppressions, the unhappy province of Syria, 
whither he had been sent after his consulship ; and finding 
that the Syrians could no longer gratify his avarice, he had 
resolved to make war on the Arabians, in hopes of enriching 
himself with their spoils. In the mean time, however, IVIi- 
thridates, who had been driven out of Parthia by his brother 
Orodes, fleeing for refuge to Gabinius, prevailed on him, by 
promising him large sums, to turn his arms against Parthia, 
and assist him in the recovery of his crown. He had already 
begun his march, and passed the Euphrates, with a design to 
replace Mith'ridates on his throne, when Auletes overtook him, 
and delivered into his hands letters from Pompey, their com- 
mon patron, wherein he was desired to restore the banished 
king, upon such terms as he should think fit to require, and 
the king to grant. 

It was contrary to an express Roman law for any governor 
to go out of the limits of his province, or to make war upon 
any pretence whatever, without orders from the senate and 
people of Rome. But the authority of Pompey, and the ex- 
pectation of reward, induced the proconsul to despise this law, 
and undertake the re-establishing Auletes, contrary to the 
opinion of all the army, except Mark Antony, who supported 
the interest of Auletes with great ardour. The more dan- 
gerous the enterprise was, the more Gabinius thought he had 
a right to expect for the imdertaking ; and therefore he did 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 261 

not blush to ask of the king- 10,000 talents, about 1,937,500Z. 
sterling ; one half of which was to be paid immediately, and 
the other as soon as he should be settled on the throne. Aule- 
tes, who was glad to be restored upon any terms, agreed to 
pay this sum ; but Gabinius would not take any measures till 
the first payment was made, which obliged the king to borrow 
it of Caius Rabirius Posthumus, a Roman knight, Pompey 
interposing his credit and authority for the payment of both 
capital and interest. «■ 

When Auletes fled from Egypt, the Alexandrians placed 
Berenice his daughter on the throne, and sent an embassy 
into Syria to Antiochus Asiaticus, who by his mother Selene, 
the daughter of Physcon, was the next male heir of the fam- 
ily, inviting him into Egypt, in order that he might marry 
Berenice and reign jointly with her. But this prince died 
before the embassy arrived, and the ambassadors were then 
directed to make the same proposal to Seleucus his brother, 
who willingly accepted the offer. Strabo describes this prince 
as a monster of iniquity. His inclinations were mean and 
sordid, and his only aim was the accumulation of riches. 
The Egyptians soon discovered his real character, and gave 
him the nickname of Cybiosactes, that is, " the scullion ;" for 
his conduct answered to that description. He was scarcely 
seated on the throne, when he gave a signal instance of his 
sordid and avaricious temper. Ptolemy Lagus had caused 
the body of Alexander the Great to be interred in a coffin of 
massy gold ; this Cybiosactes seized, substituting for it a coffin 
of glass. This provoked Berenice (who, in common with 
the Egyptians, was already grown weary of him) to such a 
degree, that breaking through the most sacred ties, she caused 
him to be strangled. He was the last prince of the Seleucidae. 
Berenice afterwards espoused Archelaus, high priest of Co- 
marra, in Pontus, who called himself the son of the great Mi- 
thridates, though he was in reality the son of that king's chief 
general. These were the rulers in Egypt, when Gabinius 
undertook to reinstate Auletes on the throne. 

Gabinius, having received the stipulated sum, repassed the 
Euphrates, and, leaving Mithridates to shift for himself, began 
his march towards Egypt. As he drew near the borders of 
that country, he detached Antony with a body of horse to 
seize the passes, and open the way for the rest of the army. 
As this young Roman was the chief promoter of the expedi- 
tion, so he acted in it with great vigour and resolution. He 
not only possessed himself of the passes of a sandy desert, 



262 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 

and found a way through the fens of Serbonis, which the 
Egyptians call the exhalations of Tryphon, but took the city 
of Peiusium, which Plutarch calls the key of Egypt on that 
side, with the whole of the garrison, thereby making a way 
for the rest of the army. Auletes had no sooner entered Pe- 
iusium, than, urged by his hatred and resentment, he pro- 
posed the destruction of its inhabitants by the sword. But 
Antony opposed this barbarous proposition, remonstratingthat it 
would draw both upon him and the Romans the general hatred 
of the nation, and thereby retard, if not prev^ent, his restoration. 

As soon as Gabinius received advice of Antony's good suc- 
cess, he entered the heart of Egypt, It was in winter, when 
the waters of the Nile were diminished, that this occurrence 
took place. Archelaus, who was brave and experienced, did 
all that could be done in defence of the country, and disputed 
his ground with much resolution. After he quitted the city, 
in order to march against the Romans, when it was necessary 
to encamp and break the ground for entrenchments, the 
Egyptians, accustomed to live an idle and voluptuous life, 
raised an outcry that Archelaus should employ the mercena- 
ries in such work, at the expense of the public. This indi- 
cated their unfitness for battle. Archelaus, however, led them 
against Gabinius, but it was only to experience an overthrow : 
the Egyptian troops were cut in pieces, and himself taken 
prisoner. 

By this victory, the proconsul might have put an end to the 
war ; but his avarice prompted him to prolong it : he gave 
Archelaus his liberty upon his paying a considerable ransom, 
and then, pretending he had made his escape, demanded fresh 
sums of Auletes to pursue the war. Rabirius, who followed 
the king in this expedition, lent him what money he required 
at a very high interest. Such Avere the despicable artifices 
made use of by the Romans at this date to enrich themselves. 

Archelaus, when again at liberty, would have long dis- 
puted the crown with his rival, had his troops seconded his 
valour ; but, the Egyptians having in several encounters 
turned their backs at the very first onset, Tie was at length ob- 
liged to shut himself up in Alexandria, which Gabinius 
closely besieged, both with his sea and land forces. Arche- 
laus defended the place with great bravery, till he was reduced 
to the last extremity ; then, urged onward by despair, he 
marched out to hazard another battle, in which, being aban- 
doned by his effeminate troops, he lost both his crown and 
his life. Mark Antony, who, on a former occasion, had been 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 263 

his particular friend and guest, hearing that he was slain, 
commanded search to be made for his body, wept over it when 
it was found, and took upon himself to inter it with all the 
honours due to a person of his rank. 

Auletes, being now master of Alexandria, easily reduced 
the rest of Egypt to his authority, and was thereby re-estab- 
lished upon his throne. In order to strengthen him in it, 
Gabinius left some Roman troops to guard his person. But 
these soldiers soon exchanged their Roman manners for the 
luxury and effeminacy of those among whom they lived, so 
that they placed very little restraint upon the Alexandrians. 

Seeing himself in quiet possession of the throne, Auletes 
began to vent his rage on all those who had been concerned 
in the rebellion. His own daughter, Berenice, was the first 
sacrifice to his resentment. The crime he laid to her charge 
was, her having accepted the vacant throne when the Alex- 
andrians offered it to her. Afterwards, he sacrificed most of 
the wealthy citizens, under pretence that they had been con- 
cerned in the rebellion. Their estates were confiscated, in 
order to raise the vast sums which he had still to pay to Gabi- 
nius, or to return to Rabirius. To be rich, was a crime for 
which many were condemned ; the king filling his dominions, 
as Dion Cassius expresses it, with blood and slaughter, that 
he might fill his coffers with the treasures of his unhappy 
subjects. 

These oppressions the effeminate Egyptians suffered with 
great patience for a short time, being kept in awe by the Ro- 
man garrison which Gabinius had left in Alexandria. But 
neither the fear of the Romans, nor the authority of Ptolemy, 
could make them endure a far less affront. A Roman soldier, 
having accidentally killed a cat, which animal was worship- 
ped by the Egyptians, the supposed sacrilege was no sooner 
known, than the Alexandrians made a general insurrection ; 
and gathering together in crowds, made their way through 
the Roman guards, dragged the soldier out of his house, and 
tore him in pieces. Diodorus Siculus, who relates this insur- 
rection, was an eye witness of it. 

C. Rabirius Posthumus had lent Auletes immense sums to 
defray the expenses of his expedition against his rebellious 
subjects. When Auletes was estabhshed on his throne, he 
sent to him requesting payment ; and, finding that the king was 
very backward, he resolved to leave Rome, and seek repay- 
ment in person. When he arrived at Alexandria, he pressed 
tbe king to perform his engagements. Auletes. however. 



264 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 

showed little regard to his remonstrances, excusing himself 
on account of the low state of his finances since the revolution. 
He gave him, indeed, to understand that he despaired of sa- 
tisfying him, unless he would consent to take upon him the 
care of his revenues, by which means he might reimburse 
himself by occasional small sums with his own hands. The 
unfortunate creditor accepted the oifer, for fear of losing the 
amount for which he was huxiself indebted to others ; but the 
wicked Auletes soon after, upon some frivolous pretence, or- 
dered him and his servants to be imprisoned. This shameful 
treatment exasperated Pompey as much as Rabirius ; the for- 
mer having been, in some measure, security for the debt, in- 
asmuch as the money ^vas lent at his request, and the whole 
business transacted by him at a country house of his oa\t.i near 
Alba. But Rabirius found means to escape from prison ; and, 
as he had reason to fear the worst from so cruel and faithless 
a prince, he Avas well pleased to be able to flee from Egypt 
without further molestation. To complete his disgrace, he 
was prosecuted as soon as he returned to Rome, for having 
aided Auletes in corrupting the senate, by his gold ; for having 
dishonoured the character of a Roman knight, by farming the 
revenues, and becoming the servant of a foreign prince ; and 
for having been an accomplice with Gabinius, and sharing 
with him the ten thousand talents which the proconsul had 
received for his Egyptian expedition. Rabirius appears to 
have been acquitted ; and the eloquent oration of Cicero in 
his defence, which is still extant, will be a lasting monument 
of the treachery and ingratitude of Auletes. 

Notwithstanding the unheard-of tyranny with which Aule- 
tes harassed his subjects, he died, b. c. 5 1 , in the peaceable pos- 
session of his kingdom, about four years after his re-establish- 
ment, and thirty after he had first ascended the throne. He 
left two sons and two daughters. He bequeathed his crown 
to his eldest son and daughter, ordering them to be joined in 
marriage, according to the vile and scandalous custom of 
their family, and to govern with equal power. These being 
both under age, (the daughter, who was the elder, was seven- 
teen years old only,) he left them under the tuition of the Ro- 
man people, whom he conjured by all his idol gods, and his 
allegiance with Rome, to take care that his will was duly ex- 
ecuted. Eutropius tells us, that, a copy of his will being 
transmitted to Rome, Pompey was appointed the guardian of 
the young prince. Both the sons were called Ptolemy ; the 
daughters' iiames were Clropatrn and Arsinoe. This was 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 265 

the Cleopatra whose history is so conspicuous, or rather so ia- 
famous, in the ancient records, and which is related in the 
succeeding pages. 

PTOLEMY, CLEOPATRA. 

Little is known of the beginning of the reign of Cleopatra 
and her brother. The first act recorded of her is, that, two 
of the sons of Bibulus, who had been consul with Julius Ce- 
sar, and was at this time, b. c. 48, proconsul of Syria, being 
killed in Alexandria by the Roman soldiers, whom Gabinius 
had left to guard Auletes, Cleopatra sent the murderers to 
Bibulus that he might punish them as he thought fit ; but the 
proconsul sent them back with this message, that their punish- 
ment belonged not to him, but to the senate of Rome. 

As Ptolemy was a minor, under the tuition of Pothinas a 
eunuch, and Achillas, general of his army, these two minis- 
ters, to engross the whole power to themselves, deprived Cleo- 
patra of the share in the sovereignty left her by the will of 
Auletes. Cleopatra, thus injured, retired into Syria, and 
raised in that country, and in Palestine, a very considerable 
army, in order to assert her rights by force of arms. On the 
other hand, Ptolemy, having drawn together all the forces he 
could, took the field, and marched against his sister. Both 
armies encamped between Pelusium and Mount Casius, ob- 
serving the motions of each other, neither of them being 
inclined to venture" an engagement. 

It was at this juncture that Pompey, after having lost the 
battle of Pharsalia, fled to Egypt, conceiving that he should find 
there an asylum in his misfortunes. He had been, as narrated, 
the protector of Auletes, the father of the reigning king ; and 
it was solely to Pompey's influence, that he was indebted for 
his re-estabUshment : and therefore it might have been expected 
that gratitude would have taught the king to receive him 
with open arms.. But gratitude was a virtue unknown to 
most princes and ministers at this date, as Pompey found by 
experience. The unfortunate Roman, observing from the 
sea a great army encamped on the shore, concluded from 
thence, that the king was at war with his sister, and that, in 
such a conjuncture, he should find the young prince the more 
ready to protect him, since he might stand in need of his as- 
sistance ; he therefore sent some of his friends to acquaint the 
king with his arrival, and to demand permission to land and 
enter his kingdom. 

VOL. I. " 23 



^^6 itfe-BikV OF tut EGYPTIANS. 

T*toIemy hirfiSelf returned no answer to Pompey's request ; 
but Pothinas and Achillas, the two reigning ministers, with 
Theodotus the rhetorician, the young king's preceptor, and 
some others, consulted together what answer to return. This 
council differed in opinion ; some were for receiving him, 
others for sending him word to seek a retreat elsewhere. 
Theodotus opposed both these propositions, and, displaying 
all his eloquence, undertook to demonstrate that there was no 
other choice to be made, than that of ridding themselves of 
him. His reasons were, because, if they protected him, 
Cesar would not fail to be revenged on them for abetting his 
enemy ; and, if they refused to receive him, and affairs should 
take a turn in his favour, he would without doubt make them 
pay dear for their refusal ; and therefore, the only safe way 
to guard against both these evils, was to put him to death, 
which, said he, will gain us the friendship of Cesar, and pre- 
vent the other from doing us mischief; for, according to the 
ancient proverb, " Dead men do not bite." 

Some writers tell us, that Theodotus maintained this cruel 
paradox only to display his eloquence and talents. But, be 
this as it may, it had a fatal effect. The advice prevailed, as 
being in their opinion the wisest and safest course to pursue ; 
and Achillas Septimius, a Roman officer in the service of the 
king of Egypt, and some others, were charged wath putting 
it into execution. They went to take Pompey on board a 
shallop, under the pretext that large vessels could not ap- 
proach the shore without difficulty. The troops were drawn 
up at the seaside, as with design to do honour to Pompey, 
Ptolemy being at their head. The perfidious Septimius ten- 
dered his hand to Pompey in the name of his master, and 
bade him come to a king, his friend, whom he ought to re- 
gard as his ward and son. Pompey then embraced his wife 
Cornelia, who wept over him as one lost to her ; and, after 
having repeated some lines of Sophocles, to the effect that 
*' every man who enters the court of a tyrant becomes his 
slave, though free before," he went into the shallop. The 
tragedy soon followed. When they saw themselves near the 
shore, they stabbed Pompey before the king's eyes, cut off 
his head, and threw his body upon the strand, where it had 
no other funeral than one of his frecd-men could give it, with 
the assistance of an old Roman, who was accidentally passing 
that way. They raised him a wretched funeral pile, and for 
that purpose made use of some fragments of an old wreck 
that Imd been driven ashore. Lucan, in his Pharsalia, re- 



HiStO&V OF THE feGYPTIANS. Sdt 

latefe, vHat the freed-HJtan^, Whbrh he iaunortahzes under the 
wame of Oordus, erected a sfdrife over the spcit w^here he buiied 
Mm, With this inscriiytion, 

"beneath this stone, the once great POMPEY LffiS;" 

than wJhich nothing can be more emphatic, or better show 
the vanity of human greatness. . The name of Pompey had 
filled the World with alarms ; but beneath that stone he lay 
silently, not even striking terror into the worms that devoured 
his mortal frame. A Christian poet thus moralizes oh his 
fail : 

"The dust of heroes cast abroad, 
And kick'd and trampled in the road 
The relics of a lofty mind 
That lately wars and croWns designed, 
Tossed for a jest from wind to wind, 
Bid me be humble, and forbear 
Tall monuments of fame to rear — 
They are but castles in the air. 
The toWering heights and frightful falls, 
The ruined heaps and funerals 
Of smoking kingdoms and their kings, 
Tell me a thousand mournful things 

> In melancholy silence 

He, 

That living could not bear to see 

An equal, now lies torn and dead — 

Here his pale trunk, and there his head. 

Great Pompey ! while I meditate, 

With solemn horror, thy sad fate. 

Thy carcass scattered on the shore 

Without a name, instructs me more 

Than my whole library before." — Dr. Watts. 

Cornelia Avitnessed the death of Pompey ; and it is easier 
to imagine the condition of a woman, in the height of her 
grief from so tragical an occurrence, than to describe it. 
Those who were in the galley with her, and in two other 
ships in company with it, made the coast resound with the 
cries they raised, and, weighing anchor immediately, set sail, 
and prevented the Egyptians, who were preparing to chase 
them, from pursuing this design. 

In the mean time, Julius Cesar, being informed that Pom- 
ppy had steered his course towards Egypt, pursued him 
thither ; and he arrived at Alexandria just as the news of his 
death was brought to that city. Theodotus, or, as others say, 
Achillas, believing he should do him a pleasure, presented 
hmi the head of that illustrious fugitive. But Cesar, though 



268 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

the enemy of Pompey, was more merciful, and exhibited far 
more humanity, than those who ought to have befriended 
him. He Avept at the sight, and, turning away his eyes with 
abhorrence, ordered the head to be buried with the usual so- 
lemnities. 

For the greater expedition, Cesar had pursued Pompey 
with few forces, having with him, when he arrived at Alex- 
andria, only 800 horsey and 3,200 foot. The rest of his army 
he had left behind him in Greece and Asia Minor, under the 
command of his lieutenants, with orders to pursue the advan- 
tages of his victory, and secure his interests in those parts. 
He was very nigh paying dear for this temerity. The few 
forces he had with him not being sufficient to defend him 
against the populace of Alexandria, who were all in an up- 
roar on account of Pompey's death, he, with much difficulty, 
gained an entrance into the king's palace, and there shut him- 
self up with part of his men, the rest having been driven back 
to their ships by the enraged multitude. 

As it was not in Cesar's power to leave Alexandria, by 
reason of the Etesian winds, which, in that country, blow 
without cessation during the dog-days, (in the beginning of 
which Cesar had entered that port,) and prevent any ships 
from sailing out, he sent orders to the legions he had left in 
Asia to join him with all possible expedition. The tumult, 
however, was appeased before the arrival of his troops ; and 
he ventured out of the palace, and gained the affections of the 
common people by his affable behaviour. He spent his time 
in visiting the curiosities of that great and stately metropolis, 
and took pleasure in assisting at the public speeches and 
harangues made by the Alexandrian orators and rhetoricians. 
But, that he might not spend his whole time in diversions, he 
began to solicit the payment of the money due to him from 
Auletes, and to take cognizance of the difference between 
Ptolemy and Cleopatra. 

The reader has been informed, that, during Cesar's first 
consulship, Auletes had bribed him by the promise of 6,000 
talents, by which he had gained his interest, and finally the 
friendship and alliance of Rome, with the croAvn of Egypt. 
The king had only paid him part of this sum, and had given 
him a bond for the remainder. Cesar now demanded what 
was unpaid ; and, as he needed it for the subsistence of his 
troops, he urged his claims with rigour. Pothinas, the king's 
treasurer, made this rigour appear more severe than it really 
was : for he plundered their temples of all the gold and silver 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 269 

Utensils, and persuaded the king and all the chief men of the 
kingdom, to eat out of earthen or wooden vessels His mo- 
tive for this was to stir up the people against Cesar ; for he 
insinuated to them that he had seized all their gold and silver 
plate. This had the desired effect ; for it effectually estranged 
the minds of the Alexandrians from Cesar. But what most 
provoked their indignation, and at length drove them to take 
ap arms against Cesar, was the haughtiness with which he 
acted, as judge between Ptolemy and Cleopatra. He not 
only cited them to appear before him for the decision of their 
difference, but issued a peremptory order, commanding them 
to disband their armies, and appear and plead their cause be- 
fore him, to receive such sentence as he should please to pro- 
nounce. 

This was looked upon in Egypt as a violation of the royal 
dignity, and an open encroachment on the prerogative of 
their sovereign, who, being independent, acknowledged no 
superior, and therefore could not be judged by any tribunal. 
To complaints made to this effect, Cesar replied, that he did 
not take upon him to decide the matter as a superior, but ae 
an arbitrator appointed by the will of Auletes ; who having 
placed his children under the tuition of the Roman people 
and all their power being now vested in him as their dictator, 
it belonged to him to arbitrate and determine this controversy, 
a9 guardian of Ptolemy and Cleopatra by virtue of this will : 
he added, that he claimed no other prerogative than to settle 
peace between the king and his sister. This explanation a 
layed the animosity of the Egyptians for a short time ; anft 
the cause was brought to Cesar's tribunal, and advocates wer* 
appointed on both sides to plead before him. 

Cleopatra, thinking that Cesar would regard such of he- 
sex as had youth and beauty on their side, resolved to employ 
her own blandishments to attach him to her person and hei 
cause. Accordingly, she sent a private messenger to Cesar, 
complaining that her cause was betrayed by those she em- 
ployed, and demanding his permission to appear before him 
in person. Plutarch says, it was Cesar himself who pressed 
her to come and plead her own cause. Be this as it may, 
she no sooner knew that Cesar was inclined to see her, than, 
taking with her ApoUodorus, the Sicilian, she embarked in a 
small vessel, and, in the dusk of the evening, arrived under 
the walls of Alexandria. She was afraid of being discovered 
by her brother, or those of his party who were masters of the 
city, as they would not have failed to prevent her going to 

23* 



270 HISTORY OF THE EGX?TU»S. 

Cesar's house. In order, therefore, to get thither without be* 
ing discovered, she caused herself to be tied up in a mattress, 
and was thus carried by Apollodorus on his back through 
the streets to Cesar's apartment. Her blandishments pre- 
vailed. The next morning Cesar sent for Ptolemy, and 
pressed him to receive his sister again upon her own terms. 
By this proposal, Ptolemy found that Cesar was become his 
sister's advocate and his adversary ; and, having learned that 
Cleopatra was then in Cesar's own apartment, he retired in 
the utmost fury, and, returning into the streets, took the dia- 
dem from his head, tore it to pieces, and threw it on the 
ground, complaining that he was betrayed, and relating the 
circumstances to the multitude who assembled around him. 
In a moment, the whole city was in an uproar. The king 
himself, at the head of the populace, led them tumultuously 
to charge Cesar, with all the fury of madness. The Roman 
soldiers, however, who guarded Cesar, by their own prowess 
prevented their entrance into the palace. They even secured 
the person of Ptolemy, and delivered him up to Cesar. 
Nevertheless, as the rest of his forces were dispersed in the 
several quarters of the city, and knew nothing of what was 
passing, Cesar would inevitably have been overpowered an4 
torn to pieces by the enraged multitude, had he not had the 
presence of mind to show himself from a balcony, which was 
out of their reach, and from thence assure them that he was 
ready to do whatever they should think fit to suggest to him. 
This specious promise allayed the tumult for the moment. 

The next day, having sununoned a general assembly of 
the people, he brought out to them Ptolemy and Cleopatra ; 
and then, causing the will of Auletes to be read, he decreed, 
as guardian and arbitrator, that Ptolemy and Cleopatra should 
reign jointly in Egypt, agreeably to the will ; and that Pto- 
lemy, the younger son, and Arsinoe, the younger daughter, 
should reign in Cyprus. This last article was added to ap- 
pease the people; for it was an absolute gift that he made 
them, as the Romans were in actual possession of the island. 

Every one was satisfied with this decree, except Pothinas. 
As this minister had occasioned the breach between Cleopatra 
and her brother, and the expulsion of that princess from the 
throne, he had reason to apprehend that the consequences of 
this decree would prove fatal to him. To prevent the effect 
of it, therefore, he inspired the people with new jealousies and 
discontent. He gave out that the Roman dictator had, through 
fear alone, made this just decree, and that his true design was 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 27!! 

to place Cleopatra alone on the throne. When he had, hy 
such reports as these, stirred up the populace anew against 
Cesar, he directed Achillas to advance at the head of the 
army from Pelusium, in order to drive Cesar out of Alex- 
andria. 

Achillas approached Alexandria (b. c. 47) vs^ith 20,000 
well disciplined troops ; and confusion again prevailed 
throughout the city. Cesar, whose forces were few, per- 
suaded the king to send out ambassadors to Achillas, ordering 
him to forbear using any violence, since he was well pleased 
with what Cesar had decreed. Dioscorides and Serapion, 
who had been ambassadors at Rome, and at great authority 
at court, were employed on this occasion. But Achillas was 
so far from complying with the king's orders, that he com- 
manded the ambassadors to be seized and put to death ; and 
accordingly, one was slain, and the other carried off for dead. 

Finding that Achillas would listen to no proposals, Cesar 
resolved to keep within the walls of the town, not being able 
to oppose his enemy in the field. He therefore posted his 
men so judiciously in the streets and avenues of that quarter 
of the town of which he had taken possession, that he defied 
the force of the Egyptian army. 

Achillas, finding that his efibrts were ineffectual in this 
quarter, changed his measures, and marched towards the 
port, with a design to make himself master of the fleet; to cut 
off" Cesar's communication with the sea ; and to prevent him, 
in consequence, from receiving succours and convoys on that 
side. But Cesar again frustrated his designs, by causing the 
Egyption fleet to be set on fire, and by possessing himself of 
the tower of Pharos, which he garrisoned. By this means, 
he preserved his communication with the sea, without which 
he must have been eventually ruined. Some of the ships 
when on fire, driving to the shore, communicated their flames 
to the adjoining houses, which spreading into the quarter of 
the city called Bruchium, consumed the noble library, which 
the several Ptolemies had erected and enlarged, and which 
contained 400,000 volumes. This was a loss to literature 
that has never been repaired. 

In the mean time, Cesar, that he might not be compelled to 
meet the numerous troops of the enemy till his succours 
arrived, strengthened that quarter of the city where he lived 
with walls, towers, and other fortifications ; including within 
them the palace, a theatre adjoining to it, and a passage to 
the harbour. From the beginning of the tumult, Cesar had 



272 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

taken care to keep the king in his power, that this war might 
seem to be undertaken only by a few malcontents, and not by 
his authority or approbation. While Ptolemy was thus de- 
tained, Pothinas, who attended him as his governor and 
minister, carried on a secret correspondence with Achillas, 
giving him advice of all that passed, and encouraging him to 
prosecute the seige with vigour. One of his letters was at 
length intercepted ; and, his treason being thereby discovered, 
Cesar ordered him to be put to death. 

Ganymedes, another eunuch, who was charged with the 
education of Arsinoe, the younger of the king's sisters, was a 
party in this treason ; and, fearing the same punishment, he 
fled secretly, carrying with him the young princess. He 
presented her to the Egyptian army, who, wanting one of the 
royal family to head them, were overjoyed at her arrival, and 
proclaimed her queen. After this, Ganymedes, who enter- 
tained thoughts of supplanting Achillas, caused an accusation 
to be formed against him, charging him with giving up the 
fleet which had been burned in the harbour to Cesar. By 
this device, he obtained the condemnation and execution of 
Achillas, whereupon he took on himself the command of the 
army, and the administration of all the affairs of that party. 
Ganymedes did not want capacity for the office of a prime 
minister, probity only excepted ; for he contrived a thousand 
artful stratagems to distress Cesar during the course of this 
war, showing himself at the same time a discerning statesman 
and a crafty general. 

One of his devices is thus recorded. The Alexandrians 
possessed no fresh water but that of the Nile ; to preserve 
which, the whole city was vaulted underneath the houses.* 
Once a year, on the great swell of the Nile, the water of that 
river came into the city by a canal, and by sluices was turned 
into the vaults, where it gradually became clear. The prin- 
cipal families of the city drank of this AA'^ater ; but the poor 
were forced to drink the common water, which was muddy 
and unwholesome. These vaults were so constructed, that 
they all had communication with each other. The provision 
of water they contained after the supply from the Nile, served 
for the whole year. Every house had an opening, not un 
like the mouth of a well, through which the water was drawn 

* Thevenot says, that the same kind of caves exist to this day at Alex- 
andria, and that they are filled once a year, as in ancient times. More 
modern travellers also relate, that the cisterns for keeping the Nile water 
are still in a great measure preserved. See the article Akxandria. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 273 

in buckets or pitchers. Ganyrnedes caused the communica- 
tions with the quarters where Cesar lived to be stopped up, 
and then found means to turn the sea-water into the latter, 
and thereby spoiled all the fresh water. This raised a 
general uproar among Cesar's soldiers ; and he would have 
been obliged to abandon his quarters, much to his disadvan- 
tage, had he not thought of ordering wells to be sunk, where 
springs of water were found, which made amends for that 
which was spoiled. 

After this, Cesar, receiving advice that a legion which 
Calvinus, his lieutenant in Asia, had sent him by sea, was 
arrived on the neighbouring coasts of Lybia, but was detained 
there by contrary winds, advanced with his whole fleet to 
convoy it safely to Alexandria. Ganymedes was apprised of 
this ; and he immediately collected all the Egyptian ships 
that could be found in order to attack him upon his return. 
A battle ensued between the two fleets, wherein Cesar gained 
a considerable advantage, and would have destroyed the 
Egyptian fleet, had he not been obliged, by the approaching 
night, to retire with his ships and legion into the harbour. 

To repair this loss, which was very considerable, Gany- 
medes drew together aU the ships that were in the mouth of 
the Nile and private arsenals, and, having formed with them 
another fleet, entered the port of Alexandria. This pro- 
duced another fight at sea, in which Cesar gained a second 
victory, which is chiefly ascribed to the valour of the Rho- 
dians, and their skill in naval tactics. It is said that the 
Alexandrians climbed in throngs to the tops of the houses 
next the port, to be spectators of the flight, and awaiting the 
result with fear and trembling, lifting up their hands to hea- 
ven to implore the assistance of the gods. 

To make the best of his advantage, Cesar endeavoured to 
capture the isle of Pharos, and to possess himself of the mole, 
called the Heptastadion, by which it was joined to the conti- 
nent ; but, after he had landed his troops, he was repulsed, 
with the loss of above 800 of his forces. Cesar himself was 
very near perishing in his retreat ; for, finding the ship in 
which he endeavoured to escape ready to sink, by reason of 
the numbers of those who crowded into it, he threw himself 
into the sea, and with great difficulty swam to the next ship. 
Dion Cassius, Plutarch, Suetonius, and Orosius tell us, that 
Cesar, while he thus made his escape, carried his Commen- 
taries, which he bad then with him, in one hand, holding up 
the papers the whole time, lest the water should reach them, 



274 HISTORY OP THE EGYPTIANS. 

and swam with the other. When he reached the other ship, 
he saw, to his great concern, the vessel which he had left 
sink, with all those on board. 

The Alexandrians, finding that the Romans were rather 
encouraged than disheartened by their late loss, and were 
making active preparations to repair it, sent ambassadors to 
Cesar, demanding their king, and assuring him that his com- 
pliance with their request would allay all animosity, and put 
an end to the war. Cesar, though well acquainted with the 
subtle and deceitful characters' of the Alexandrians, readily 
complied with their request, knowing that he hazarded no- 
thing in giving them up the person of their king ; and that, 
if they failed in their promises, the continuation of the war, 
and its accompanying evils, would be laid to their charge. 
Before he dismissed the young prince, he exhorted him to 
take this opportunity of inspiring his subjects with sentiments 
of peace ; to redress the evils which a Avar, very imprudently 
undertaken, had brought upon his dominions ; to approve 
himself worthy of the confidence he reposed in him by grant- 
ing him his liberty ; and to show himself grateful for services 
he had rendered his father. Ptolemy, early instructed in the 
art of dissimulation and deceit, begged Cesar, with tears in 
his eyes, that he would not oblige him to depart, assuring 
him, that he had rather live with him as a private person than 
reign without him. The sequel showed how little sincerity 
there was in his tears and professions of amity. . He was no 
sooner placed at the head of his troops, than he renewed hos- 
tilities with more vigour than ever. The first thing Ptolemy, 
who was entirely governed by Ganymedes, attempted, Avas to 
intercept Cesar's provisions. This gave rise to another sea- 
fight near Canopus, in which Cesar was again victorious. 
In this engagement, Euphanor, the Rhodian admiral, lost his 
life and his ship, after having greatly signalized himself 

When this battle was fought, Mithridates of Pergamus was 
upon the point of arriving with the army which he weis 
bringing to the aid of Cesar. Mithridates had been sent into 
Syria and Cilicia, to assemble all the troops he could obtain, 
and to march them into Egypt. He acquitted himself of his 
commission Avith such diligence, that he had soon formed a 
considerable army. Antipater, the Idumean, contributed very 
much towards it. He had not only joined him Avith 3,000 
Jews, but engaged several neighbouring princes of Arabia 
and Ccelo-Syria, and the free cities of Phenicia and Syria 
also, to send him troops. With these troops, Mithridates, 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 275 

sitended by Antipater in person, marched into Egypt ; and, 
on his arrival at Pelusium, took that important place by storm, 
't'his advantage was chiefly owing to Antipater ; for he was 
the first that mounted the breach, and thereby opened the way 
for those who followed him, to carry the town. 

From Pelusium, Mithridates advanced towards Alexandria- 
but, as they approached the borders of the province of Onion, 
they found all the passes seized by the Jews, who inhabited 
that part of Egypt, so that it was impossible for them to pro- 
ceed any farther. This obstruction would have rendered 
their design abortive, had not Antipater, partly by his OAvn 
aiithority, and partly by that of Hyrcanus, (who was then at 
the head of the Jewish nation, and from whom he brought 
letters to the Jews,) prevailed upon them to espouse the cause 
of Cesar. Their example was followed by the Jews of Mem- 
phis ; and Mithridates was plentifully supplied by both with 
provisions for his army. 

As Mithridates drew near the Delta, Ptolemy detached a 
considerable body of troops to dispute with them the passage 
of the Nile. This led to a battle. Mithridates put himself 
at the head of a part of his army, and Antipater commanded 
the other part. The wing which Mithridates commanded 
was soon obliged to give way, being attacked by the Egyp- 
tians with great fury ; but Antipater, who had defeated the 
enemy on his side, hastening to his relief, the battle was re- 
newed, and the Egyptians were totally routed. The two vic- 
torious generals pursued the advantage, drove the enemy out 
of the field with great slaughter, and, having taken their camp, 
obliged those who escaped the carnage to repass the Nile. 
Mithridates immediately acquainted Cesar with his victory, 
ascribing with great ingenuousness, according to Josephus, 
the whole glory of it to Antipater. 

Ptolemy, upon advice that the troops he had sent were de- 
feated, advanced with his whole army against Mithridates and 
Antipater. At the same time, Cesar, leaving the city under 
the cover of the night, marched with all possible expedition 
to join Mithridates, before the Egyptians could fall upon him. 
Accordingly he was the first who brought him intelligence of 
the king's design. The Egyptian army appeared soon after, 
and a decisive battle ensued, in which Cesar gained a complete 
victory. F*tolemy himself was drowned in the Nile, as he was 
attempting to make his escape in a boat. His body was after- 
wards thrown on the shore ; it was known by the gold cui- 
rass, which Julius Capitolinus informs us, the Ptblemies of 



276 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Egypt used to wear. He had reigned from the death of his 
father Auletes, three years and eight months. It is recorded, 
that 20,000 Egyptians were slain in this hattle, and 12,000 
taken prisoners. On Cesar's side, 500 only were killed, and 
about 1,000 wounded. Among the latter was Antipater, who 
fought with great bravery, and had a great share in the vic- 
tory. 

In confidence of this victory, Cesar returned to Alexandria, 
and, entering that city without opposition, bestowed the crown 
of Egypt on Cleopatra, in conjunction with Ptolemy, her 
younger brother. This was in effect giving it to Cleopatra 
alone, the young prince being then but eleven years of age. 
The passion which Cesar had conceived for Cleopatra was 
the sole motive that prompted him to embark in this danger- 
ous and infamous war ; and therefore, the enterprise having 
been attended with success, it is no wonder that he should 
take care that she should reap the advantages of his victory. 
Cesar Avas, indeed, so captivated by the charms of Cleopatra, 
that he remained longer in Egypt than his affairs could well 
admit, and very nearly to their ruin. Appian relates, that 
though he had settled all matters there in January, yet he did 
not leave that country till the latter end of April, and that he 
passed the time in revels and banquets with Cleopatra and 
her court. He took great pleasure in diverting himself with 
her on the Nile, in a large galley, called Thalamegos, Joeing 
attended by a fleet of 400 sail. Suetonius says, that he de- 
signed to sail with her as far as Ethiopia, but that his troops 
refused to follow him. He meditated the design of carrymg 
her with him to Rome, and there marrying her, after having 
caused a law to be passed in the comitia, by which the Ro- 
man citizens should be allowed to marry foreigners, and as 
many as they pleased. Helvius Cinna, the tribune of the peo- 
ple, declared, after the death of Cesar, that he had prepared 
an harangue in order to propose that law to the people, he 
being unable to refuse the assistance required of him by the 
dictator. 

Before Cesar left Alexandria, in acknowledgment of the 
assistance he had received from the Jews, he confirmed all 
the privileges they enjoyed in that city, and commanded a 
column to be erected, on which all those privileges were en- 
graved, with the decree confirming them. 

The cause of Cesar's quitting Egj^pt and Cleopatra (by 
whom he had a son called Cesarion) was the war with Phar- 
naces, king of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and son of Mithri- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. , 277 

dates, the last king of Pontus. The success that attended 
that prince in the recovery of his father's dominions, roused 
Cesar out of the lethargy into which Cleopatra's charms had 
lulled him, and called his warlike powers again into action. 
He left part of his forces in Egypt, to protect Cleopatra, and 
with the rest marched into Syria. He fought a great battle 
with Pharnaces, near the city of Zela, in Cappadocia, de- 
feated his whole army, and drove him out of the kingdom of 
Pontus. To denote the rapidity of his conquest, in writing to 
one of his friends, he made use of those three well-known 
words, Ferei, vidi, vici ; " I came, I saw, I conquered." 

In the war which Cesar waged in Egypt, he had taken 
Arsinoe prisoner. On his return to Rome, he carried her 
with him, and there caused her to walk before his chariot, 
bound with chains of gold. After this vain display, he gave 
her liberty, but would not allow her to return into Egypt, lest 
her presence should occasion new troubles in that kingdom. 
The banished princess took up her residence in Asia ; at least 
it was there that Antony found her after the battle of Philippi, 
and where, at the request of Cleopatra her sister, he caused 
her to be put to death. 

After Cesar had departed from Egypt, b. c. 47, Cleopatra 
enjoyed the crown without molestation, having all the power 
in her own hand during the minority of her brother. But 
this young prince no sooner attained the fourteenth year of 
his age, b. c. 43, when, according to the laws of his country, 
he was to share the royal authority, than she poisoned him, 
and remained sole queen of Egypt. Not long after, Julius 
Cesar being killed at Rome by conspirators, at the head of 
whom were Brutus and Cassius, and the celebrated triumvi- 
rate formed between Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius Cesar, 
Cleopatra declared for the triumvirs, and sent to Albienus the 
consul, Dolabella's lieutenant, four legions, which were the 
remains of the armies of Pompey and Crassus, and part of 
the troops which Cesar had left with her to guard Egypt. 
Cassius made himself master of these four legions, b. c. 42, 
and frequently solicited aid from Cleopatra, which she uni- 
formly refused. Cassius marched his army towards the fron- 
tiers of Egypt, with a design to invade that kingdom ; but, 
Brutus requiring his aid, he desisted from the enterprise. 
Cleopatra, being thus delivered from all fear of an invasion, 
sailed with a numerous fleet to join Antony and Octavius ; 
but a violent storm occasioned the loss of many of her ships, 
and she, falling sick, was obliged to return into Egypt. 

VOL. I. 24 



278 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

After the battle of Philippi, b. c. 41, Antony, having passed 
over into Asia, in order to establish the authority of the tri- 
umvirate there, was informed that the governors of Phenicia, 
which was dependent upon the kingdom of Egypt, had sent 
Cassius aid against Dolabella. Upon this, he summoned the 
queen of Egypt to appear before him at Tarsus in Cihcia, 
whither he was going to assemble the states of that province. 
This step was fatal in its consequences to Antony. Cleo- 
patra, assured of her charms, by the allurements she had al- 
ready so successfully employed on Julius Cesar, hoped to cap- 
tivate Antony also. For this purpose, she provided herself 
with rich presents, large sums of money, and magnificent 
habits and ornaments. Thus provided, she embarked in a 
stately galley, and set sail for Cilicia. Having crossed the 
sea of Pamphylia, she entered the Cydnus, and, sailing up 
that river, landed at Tarsus, where Antony waited for her. 

There had never been seen in these parts a more splendid 
equipage than this of Cleopatra's. The stern of her ship 
glittered with gold, the sails were purple, and the oars inlaid 
with silver. A pavilion of cloth of "gold was raised upon the 
deck, under which appeared the queen, dressed like Venus, 
and surrounded by many comely youths, fanning her lik'- 
Cupids, and beautiful damsels, representing some the Nereids 
and others the Graces. The hills and dales echoed as she 
sailed up the river, with the melody of various instruments ; 
and the oars, keeping time, rendered the harmony more 
agreeable. The great quantity of perfumes that were burned 
on the deck, filled the air with the most agreeable odours to 
a great distance on each side of the river. 

As soon as the arrival of Cleopatra was known, the citi- 
2ens of all ranks went out to meet her : so that Antony, who 
was distributing justice, and hearing causes in the forum, saw 
his tribunal deserted, not a single person remaining with him 
but his lictors and domestics. A rumour was spread that it 
was the goddess Venus coming to pay a visit to Bacchus 
about the good of Asia ; alluding to a meeting between those 
two deities, as described in the fanciful pages of the mythnW 
gical poets. 

Cleopatra was no sooner landed, tYihti Antony sent to invite 
her to supper. She answered his deputies that she should be 
glad to regale him herself, and that she would expect him in 
the tents she had caused to be pitched upon the banks of the 
river. Antony complied with her invitation ; and, in return 
he invited her to an entertainment the next day, when he en- 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 379 

deavQured, but in vain, to rival the magnificence of Cleopatra's 
feast. » 

The more Antony conversed virith Cleopatra, the more he 
was charmed with her conversation, till at length he was so 
captivated by her, that he could refuse her nothing, however 
repugnant to the laws of justice, humanity, or religion. She 
gained indeed, such an absolute ascendancy over him, that, 
at her entreaty, he despatched assassins to Miletus, or, as 
Josephus writes, to Ephesus, with orders to murder Arsinoe, 
her sister. This deed was executed in the temple of Diana, 
where she had taken refuge. So true it is, that one crime 
ever leads to another, and that the indulgence in vicious pas- 
sions hardens the human heart. It is probable that Antony, 
had he been told, previously to his connexion with the wicked 
Cleopatra, that he would be guilty of this dark deed, would 
have exclaimed Avith Hazael of old, " Is thy servant a dog, 
that he should do this great thing?" And yet now, hardened 
by a giddy round of pleasures, and panting for future enjoy- 
ments of the like sinful nature, he commissions assassins to 
work the work of darkness without compunction. It was the 
^oice of experience that said of the strange woman, 

" Her house inclineth unto death, 
And her paths unto the dead. 
None that go unto her return again, 
Neither take they hold of the paths of life." — Prov. ii. 18, 19. 

In the mean time, Antony and Cleopatra were indulging 
in riot and excess. To attach him more to her person and 
interest, Cleopatra made daily entertainments during her stay 
at Tarsus, inviting him and his officers to partake of them, 
and spending on each occasion immense sums of money. In 
one of these banquets, Antony expressing surprise at the num- 
ber of gold cups enriched with jewels, which were displayed 
on every hand, Cleopatra told him, that, since he admired 
such trifles, he was welcome to them, and immediately ordered 
her servants to carry them all to his house. The next day 
she invited him again, and desired him to bring with him all 
his officers of rank and distinction. Antony complied ; and, 
when the banquet was over, and the company ready to de- 
part, Cleopatra presented them with all the vessels of gold and 
silver used at the entertainment.* 

* In one of these feasts happened what Pliny, and after him Macrohius, 
relates of Cleopatra's profuseness. The queen had two of the largest 
pearls in her ears that had ever been found ; each of them being valued 
at 52,500Z sterling. One of these she caused to be dissolved with vinegar, 



280 HTSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

» 

Antony being obliged by his affairs to leave Tarsus, Cleo- 
patra accompanied him as far as Tyre, and, there taking her 
leave of him, returned into Egypt : but he was so enslaved by 
her charms, that he could not novp^ live w^ithout her. Hav- 
ing, therefore, appointed Plancus to be his lieutenant in Asia 
Minor, and Saxa in Syria, he hastened after her to Alexan- 
dria, where they j)assed their time in sports and voluptuous- 
ness, treating each other every day at a ruinous expense, for- 
getting that 

" The house of laughter makes a house of woe." — YonNG. 

Cleopatra's whole study was to amuse Antony, and make 
him pass his hours agreeably. She never left him day or 
night, but was continually contriving new diversions, that 
he might not have leisure for reflection on his enervating 
mode of living, and its consequences. 

Whilst Antony was thus diverted, (b. c. 39,) the news he 
received of the conquests ofLabienus, at the head of the Par- 
thian army, awakened him from his lethargy, and obliged 
him to march against these enemies. But, as he was on his 
way, he altered his measures, and sailed into Italy, with 
200 ships, against young Octavius, with whom he was soon 
after reconciled, and whose sister Octavia he married. Octa- 
via was a woman of extraordinary merit ; and it was believed 
that Antony's alliance with her would make him forget Cleo- 
patra. But when he resumed his march against the Parthi- 
ans, his passion for the Egyptian queen displayed itself with 
more violence than ever. He hastened back to Alexandria, 
where he gave himself up to the dissolute mode of living 
which he had followed before while in Egypt. 

On the removal of Antony from Alexandria into Syria, 
B. c. 38, to pursue the war against the Parthians, he left her 
in Egypt. Before he set out, however, he sent for Cleopatra 
into Syria, against the advice of all his friends. On her ar- 
rival, she influenced him to commit such flagrant acts of cru- 
elty and injustice as rendered his name and government 
odious to the whole nation. Many Syrian lords were, on 
false pretences, put to death, that she might possess their 
forfeited estates. 

and then swallowed it, in order to show how lightly she thought of such 
toys, and how much she could spend in one feast. She was preparing 
to melt the other, when Plancus, who was present, prevented her, and 
saved the pearl. This was afterwards carried to Rome by Augustus, and, 
being by his orders severed in two, served for pendants to the Venus of 
the Julian family. 



HISTORY OP THE EGYPTIANS. 281 

The stay which Antony made with Cleopatra before he 
marched against the Parthians, and the haste he made to re- 
turn to her, were the occasion of the numerous misfortunes 
that befel him in that unhappy expedition. On his return 
into Syria, b. c. 35, having with difficulty reached the bor- 
ders of Armenia, instead of putting his army there into win- 
ter quarters, as his officers advised, he pursued his march 
over the mountainous country, then covered with snow, 
which, with previous hardships, so harassed his troops, that 
on his arrival in Syria he found that 60,000 had perished. 
He rested there in expectation of Cleopatra's arrival, and, 
having once more met, he passed his time in feasting and 
revelling, without showing any concern for the loss of his 
army. The queen brought with her clothes for the poor re- 
mains of his shattered troops, and a large donative, in money, 
was distributed in Cleopatra's name ; and, having thus 
quieted the soldiery, he returned with the queen into Egypt, 
where he spent the remainder of the winter in the same 
excess of riot as before. 

Early in the spring, b. c. 34, Antony set out for Syria, de- 
signing to march from thence into Parthia. Cleopatra at- 
tended him to the banks of the Euphrates. Before he com- 
menced his march, he bestowed on her all Cyrene, Cyprus, 
Ccelo-Syria, Ituria, Phenicia, with great part of Cilicia and 
Crete. But these provinces and kingdoms were not sufficient 
to satisfy her boundless ambition. She earnestly solicited 
him to put Herod king of Judea, and Malchus king of Arabia 
Petrea, to death, that she might possess their kingdoms like- 
wise. This Antony had the moral courage to refuse, or 
rather, it is probable that he feared the result ; but, to appease 
her, he gave her that part of the kingdom of Malchus which 
bordered upon Egypt, and the territory of Jericho, belonging 
to Herod, with the balsam gardens. These grants gave great 
offence to the Roman people, and estranged their minds from 
Antony, from which time his ruin was determined. 

In the mean time, b. c. 33, Antony, having, in defiance of 
the most sacred oaths and solemn promises, taken Artabazes, 
king of Armenia, prisoner, and reduced all that country, was 
preparing to return into Egypt. Before he left Armenia, he 
concerted a union between Alexander, one of his sons by 
Cleopatra, and a daughter of the king of Media ; and then, 
putting his army into winter quarters in Armenia and the 
neighbouring countries, he hastened back to Alexandria. 
He entered this city in a triumphal chariot, causing the booty 
24* 



28? HISTORY or THE EGyi'TUNS. 

h^ had seized, and the king, his wife, and children, with 
other persons of distinction, to be carried before him, in the 
same manner as in the triumphs at Rome. Cleopatra waited 
for Antony in the forum, being seated on a golden throne, 
which was placed on a scaffold overlaid with silver, and sur- 
rounded by the chief men in the kingdom. The captives 
were presented to her in golden chains, and they were di- 
rected to kneel before her ; but not one submitted to such a 
degrading obeisance. When the news of this triumph was 
brought to Rome, the citizens, who looked upon the ceremony 
as peculiarly of Roman origin, conceived an implacable ha- 
tred to Antony for carrying it into Egypt to gratify a woman 
of such infamous character. 

A few days after, Antony, having entertained at an im- 
mense charge all the people of Alexandria, summoned them 
to meet in the gymnasium ; and there, being seated on a 
throne of gold, and Cleopatra by him on another, he made an 
oration, wherein he proclaimed Cesarion, the son of Cleopa- 
tra and Julius Cesar, king of Egypt and Cyprus, in conjunc- 
tion with hit mother. As he himself had three children by 
the same Cleopatra, namely, Alexander, Ptolemy, whom he 
surnamed Philadelphus, and Cleopatra, at the same time he 
gave to Alexander, Armenia, Media, Parthia, and the eastern 
countries, from the Euphrates to India, when they should be 
subdued ; to Cleopatra, the twin sister of Alexander, Lybia 
and Cyrene ; and to Philadelphus, Phenicia, Syria, Cilicia, 
and all the countries of Asia Minor, from the Euphrates to 
the Hellespont, conferring on each of them the title of " king 
of kings." Antony also obliged Cleopatra to take the name 
of Isis, assuming to himself that of Osiris : the former being 
the chief goddess, and the latter the chief god, of the Egyp- 
tians. From thenceforward, says Dion Cassius, they both 
affected to appear in public in the habit peculiar to those dei- 
ties. But these follies lessened the character of Antony in 
the sight of all the right-thinking men, and daily alienated 
more and more the affections of the Romans from his person 
and cause, which Octavius Cesar made use of to hasten his 
ruin. 

As soon as the season allowed him to take the field, Antony 
marched into Armenia, in order to act against the Parthians. 
He had advanced as far as the banks of the Araxes, when the 
news was brought him, that Cesar had stirred up the people 
of Rome against him, and was making preparations, as 
though he designed to come to an open rupture with him. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. Q§3 

Upon this news, he aban,<loned the Parthian expedition, and 
sent Canidius, one of his lieutenants, with sixteen legions, to 
the coasts of the Ionian sea, and he himself soon after fol- 
lowed, and joined them at Ephesus. 

In this journey, he carried Cleopatra with him, wkch 
proved his ruin. His friends advised him to send her back 
tp Alexandria, till the event of the war should be known. 
But the queen used all her arts to prevent such an occurrence. 
She was fearful that in her absence Antony would listen to 
an accommodation with Octavius Cesar, and that he would 
again receive Octavia. She therefore gained Canidius by 
presents to speak in her favour to Antony, and to represent 
to him, that it was neither just to remove her from the wair, 
who had contributed so largely towards the defraying of its 
expenses, nor useful to himself ; because her departure would 
discourage the Egyptians, of whom the greatest part of his 
maritime forces consisted. It was represented, besides, that 
Antony might with great safety depend upon and foUow Cleo- 
patra's advice in the most important and difficult affairs. 
Antony was easily persuaded that Cleopatra's presence was 
necessary, and therefore repaired with her from Ephesu? to 
Samos, spending his life in luxury, pomp, and voluptuousness. 

As Antony was well acquainted with the treacherous char- 
acter of Cleopatra, about this time he entertained suspicions, 
notwithstanding the passion she professed for him, that she 
had thoughts of poisoning him ; and therefore he would not 
touch any dish at their banquets, till it had been tasted by 
others. The queen, being apprised of his fears, in order to 
convince him that they were ill-founded, and at the same time 
to convince him that if she harboured designs of that nature, 
no precaution could guard him against them, caused the flow- 
ers of which the garlands, used in public feasts according to 
ancient custom, were composed, to be dipped in poison. 
When Antony began to be heated with wine, Cleopatra pro- 
posed dtinking the flowers of their garlands, and Antony, 
falling in with the idea, threw some of them into the cup, and 
was upon the point of drinking it, when the queen, seizing 
his arm, told him that the flowers were poisoned, and that she, 
against whom he took such mighty precautions, htid prepared 
the poison. She added, that, if she could live without him, 
she could easily get rid of him. Then calling for a criminal 
condemned to die, she caused him to drink the liquor, upon 
which he died immediately ; so lightly could this wicked 
woman play with the instruments of death. 



284 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

Antony now removed from Samos to Athens. While here, 
being informed that Octavius Cesar was still stirring up the 
people of Rome against him, he called together his chief 
officers, by whose advice he declared war against his adver- 
sary, and at the same time sent a bill of divorce to Octavia, 
with messengers to drive her by force out of his house at 
Rome. His preparations for war were so far advanced, that, 
if he had attacked his rival without loss of time, the advantage 
would, doubtless, have been on his own side, Octavius Cesar 
not being then in a condition to make head against him, 
either by sea or land. But Antony, to gratify his luxury, 
deferred taking the field to the next year, and continued to 
banquet and revel with Cleopatra at Athens, as in times of 
peace. He never appeared in public without her. Even 
when he administered justice on his tribunal in the forum, 
Cleopatra was placed on a throne by him ; and he often fol- 
lowed her on foot among the eunuchs, while she was drawn 
in a stately chariot. The ascendency she had gained over 
him, inspired her with hopes of becoming one day queen of 
Rome ; for it is said that her usual oath was, " As I hope to 
give law in the capitol." 

The deputies sent by Antony to Rome to declare his di- 
vorce from Octavia, fulfilled their commission. That virtuous 
woman, though sensible of the indignity heaped upon her, 
stifled her resentment, and answered the deputies only with 
her tears ; and, unjust as his orders were, she obeyed them, 
and removed with her children. She even strove to appease 
the people, whom so base an action had incensed against 
him, and endeavoured to soften the rage of Octavius Cesar. 
She represented to them, that it was beneath the dignity of 
the Roman people to enter into such petty differences ; that it 
was only a quarrel between women ; that she should be very 
wretched if she were the occasion of a new war ; and that 
she had consented to her marriage with Antony, solely from 
the hope that it would prove the pledge of a union between 
him and Octavius Cesar. Her remonstrances had the reverse 
effect from her intentions : the people still more commiserated 
her, and detested Antony more than before. 

Nothing enraged them so much as the will which Antony 
made and deposited in the hands of the vestal virgins. The 
secret was revealed by two persons of consular dignity, Avho, 
not being able to endure the pride of Cleopatra and the aban- 
doned voluptuousness of Antony, had retired to Octavius Ce- 
sar ; as they had witnessed this will, they revealed the secret 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 285 

to him. The vestals made great difficulty in giving np an 
instrument confided to their care, alleging as their excuse, tlje 
faith of trusts, which they weie obliged to observe. The will, 
however, on the authority of the comitia, was brought into the 
forum, and these three articles were read in it : I. That 
Antony acknowledged Cesarion as lawful son of Julius Cesar. 
II. That he appointed his sons by Cleopatra to be his heirs, 
with the title of " king of kings." III. That he decreed, in 
case he should die at Rome, that his body, after having been 
carried in pomp through the city, should be laid the same 
evening in a bed of state, and sent to Cleopatra, to whom he 
left the care of his interment. Some authors believe this will 
to have been forged by his rival, to render Antony more 
odious in the sight of the people. 

When Octavius had prepared his forces, he also declared 
war ; but he caused it to be decreed only against Cleopatra, to 
avoid offending the friends of Antony, who were still numer- 
ous and powerful at Rome. 

Antony now returned to Samos, where his fleet was assem- 
bled. This consisted of 500 ships of war of large dimensions, 
having several decks one above another, with high towers 
upon the head and stern. So numerous were the crews re- 
quired for managing these ponderous vessels, that Antony 
was obliged to take husbandmen, artificers, muleteers, etc., 
who were ill adapted to do him service. On board, it is said, 
there were 200,000 foot, and 12,000 horse. The kings of 
Libya, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Comagena, and 
Thrace, were there in person ; and those of Pontus, Judea, 
Lycaonia, Galatia, and Media, had sent their troops. A more 
splendid sight, says the ancient historian, could not be seen 
than this fleet when it had unfurled its sails to the wind. 
Cleopatra's galley was magnificent. It glittered with gold ; 
its sails were of purple ; and its flags and streamers floated in 
the breezes, whilst trumpets and other instruments of war 
made the air resound with their martial music. That queen, 

" while yet elate 
With wine, breathed ruin to the Roman state, 
Surrounded by a tainted train 
Of men, effeminate and vain, 
She raved of empire — nothing less— =• 
Vast in her hopes, and giddy with success." — Horace. 

But her career was now drawing to a close. Her race of 
imquity was nearly run, and she was about to prove to man- 
kind, through successive generations, that vice sooner or later 



^^6 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS 



is always attended with misery, that ambition must minglt 
with the dust. She had been an instrument of destruction to 
many, not excepting those of her own kindred ; and, by a 
righteous retribution, she was now to fall by her own hands. 

Antony and Octavius Cesar, as soon as the season would 
permit, b. c. 31, took the field, both by sea and land. The 
two fleets entered the Ambracian gulf in Epirus. That be- 
longing to Cesar was less imposing than Antony's. It con- 
tained only 250 ships, and 80,000 foot, with 12,000 horse. 
But all his troops were chosen men, and on board his fleet 
were none but good seamen. The most experienced officers 
under Antony advised him not to hazard a battle by sea, to 
send back Cleopatra, and to hasten into Thrace or Macedo- 
nia, in order to carry on the war by land. They argued, 
that his army was composed of good troops, and much supe- 
rior in numbers ; and that a fleet so ill-manned as his, how 
numerous soever it might be, could not be relied upon. But 
Antony was deaf to this advice, and acted only to please Cleo- 
patra. That queen, who judged solely from appearances, 
believed her fleet invincible, and that Octavius Cesar's ships 
could not approach it without being destroyed. She perceived, 
also, that, in case of misfortune, it would be easier for her to 
escape by sea than land. 

This memorable battle was fought upon the second of Sep- 
tember, at the mouth of the gulf of Ambracia, near the city 
of Actium, in sight of both of the land armies, the one being 
stationed on the north, and the other on the south, side of the 
straits, awaiting the issue of the battle. The contest was for 
some time doubtful. At length, Cleopatra, frightened with 
the noise of the battle, which appeared very dreadful to he.', 
betook herself to flight, and drew after her the whole Egyp- 
tian squadron, consisting of sixty ships. Antony, seeing her 
fly, regardless of himself, followed her precipitately, and 
yielded the victory to his rival. The particulars of this battle 
belong to the history of Rome ; it is sufficient here to touch 
only upon such circumstances as concern Egypt. 

The next day, Octavius Cesar, seeing his victory complete, 
detached a squadj:on in pursuit ; but they could not overtake 
*Jie fugitives. The Egyptian fleet steered their course to- 
wards the Peloponnesus, and it arrived safely at Taenarus, in 
Laconia. Antony had been, by Cleopatra's orders, taken on 
board her ship, but had not seen her during the voyage. On 
his first entering it, he sat down in the prow ; and there, lean- 
ing his elbows on his knees, and his head on both his hands. 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

he remained in that posture, reflecting with profound melari' 
choly upon his ill-conduct and his consequent misfortune^. 
When they arrived at Toenarus, however, he was reconciled 
to Cleopatra, and lived with her as usual. He was so he- 
witched, says Plutarch, by this woman, that his affection for 
her continued unabated even to this time, when he had all 
the reason in the world to abhor and detest her, she haiving 
been the cause of his ruin. 

From Tsenarus, Cleopatra took the route of Alexandria, 
and Antony that of Libya, where he had left a considerable 
army to guard the frontiers of that country. Upon his land- 
ing, he was informed that Scarpus, who commanded this 
army, had declared for Octavius Cesar, as well a:s that under 
the command of Canidius, who had witnessed his defeat at 
the gulf of Ambracia. He was so astounded at this news, 
that, had he not been prevented by his friends, he M^ould have 
destroyed himself The only resolution, therefdl^e, he could 
now take, was to follow Cleopatra to Alexandria, where she 
had now arrived. 

When that wicked princess gained the port of Alexandria, 
she was afraid, if her misfortune should be known, that she 
should be refused entrance. To avoid this disaster, she had 
recourse to craft. She entered the harbour with crowns on 
the prows of her ships, to give an idea that she had obtained 
some signal victory. By this means, she was admitted into 
the city ; and she had no sooner landed, than she caused 
many who had influence and were averse to her, to be put to 
death, lest they should excite seditions against her when in- 
formed of her defeat. 

Soon after, b. c. 30, she formed another extraordinary de- 
sign. To avoid falling into the hands of Octavius Cesar, who 
she foresaw would follow her into Egypt, she designed to 
have her ships in the Mediterranean carried over the isthmus, 
a distance of seventy miles, into the Red Sea. In these ships 
she placed all her treasures, intending to go in quest of some 
other place to settle, out of the reach of the enemy. But the 
Arabians, who inhabited that coast, having, at the instigation 
of Q,. Didius, who had seized Syria for Octavius Cesar, 
burned all the ships she had there, she was compelled to 
abandon the enterprise. 

Cleopatra now changed her resolution and her plans. 
And in this change we behold the depths of human depravity. 
She looked upon Octavius Cesar now as her conqueror ; arid, 
in order to save herself, and to Satisfy her arhbitidn, she re- 



288 HiSTORy OF the Egyptians. 

solved to sacrifice Antony at this unhallowed shrine. His 
misfortunes had also rendered him odious to her ; so true it 
is, that prosperity is no just criterion, but adversity is the true 
test, of friendship. Cleopatra did not, however, openly pro- 
fess her wicked designs. She concealed her sentiments from 
him, and persuaded him to send ambassadors to Cesar, to ne- 
gotiate a treaty of peace with him. She even joined her am- 
bassadors with Antony's ; but she gave them private instruc- 
tions to treat separately for herself, and sent to Cesar, a sceptre, 
a crown, and a chair of gold ; resigning, as it were, all her 
power and authority to him. Cesar accepted Cleopatra's 
presents, and returned her ambassadors answer, that, if the 
queen would lay down her arms, and resign her kingdom, 
he should then consider whether she ought to be treated with 
rigour or mercy ; but privately he promised her impunity, 
and even the kingdom, if she would sacrifice Antony. As 
for the ambassadors of Antony, he would not so much as see 
them, though they delivered up to him, as a present from 
their master, Q,. TuruUius, a senator, one of the murderers 
of Cesar, and Antony's intimate friend. 

Antony, after his return from Libya, had retired into a 
country house, which he had caused to be erected on the 
banks of the Nile, in order to enjoy the conversation of two 
of his friends, who clave to him in his adversity. It might 
have been expected, that he would have banished from his 
thoughts the cause of all his misfortunes while in this retreat ; 
but his passion for Cleopatra, which they had only suspended, 
soon resumed its former empire. He returned to Alexandria, 
and abandoned himself to her charms as heretofore ; and, 
with design to please her, he sent deputies again to Octavius 
Cesar, to demand life of him, upon the ignoble condition of 
passing it at Athens as a private person, if Cesar would as- 
sure Egypt to Cleopatra and her children. 

This second deputation met with the same reception as the 
former ; and Antony now endeavoured to extinguish the 
sense of present misfortunes, and the apprehension of the fu- 
ture, by abandoning himself to feasting and voluptuousness. 
Cleopatra and himself now regaled one another alternately, 
and strove with emulation to exceed each other in the mag- 
nificence of their banquets. They saw destruction staring 
them in the face, and drowned the idea of it in sinful plea- 
sures. 

Antony sent a third embassy to Octavius Cesar, accompa- 
nied by his own son, with a large present of money for the 



HISTORY OF THE KGYPTUiNS. 289 

conqueror. Cesar took the present ; but he sent him hack 
his son without any answer, though Antony had, among- 
other propositions, offered to destroy himself, if Cesar would 
engage that the kingdom of Egypt should be given to Cleo- 
patra's children. 

As Octavius Cesar was de&irous of possessing Cleopatra's 
person and treasures, the former for the adornment of his 
triumph, and the latter for the discharge of his debts con- 
tracted in the war, he sent her several messages, promising 
to treat her with kindness, if she would destroy Antony. 
This she refused to do ; but she promised to deliver him and 
her kingdom into his hands. 

In the mean time, foreseeing what must eventually happen, 
Cleopatra collected all kinds of poison, to prove which of them 
occasioned death with the least pain. The experiment was 
made upon criminals condemned to death. Having observed 
that the strongest poisons caused death the soonfest, but with 
great torment, and that those of less power brought on a lin- 
gering death, she tried the biting of venomous creatures, and 
caused various kinds of serpents to be applied to different per- 
sons. She discovered, at length, that the aspic was the only 
one that caused neither torture nor convulsions ; merely 
throwing the person bitten by it into immediate stupefaction, 
attended with a slight perspiration, and a numbness of the 
organs of sense, so that those in that condition were angry 
when any one disturbed them, like people oppressed by sleep. 
This was the death this wicked woman calmly fixed upon 
to end her troubled life : showing herself, thereby, fearful of 
a little pain of body, while at the same time she was regard- 
less of everlasting punishment and woe. 

To dispel the suspicions of Antony, Cleopatra applied her- 
self with more than ordinary solicitude in pleasing him. 
Though she celebrated her own birthday with little solemnity, 
she kept that of Antony with unusual magnificence, so that 
many of the guests who came poor to the feast, went away 
rich. 

Octavius Cesar, knowing the importance of completing his 
victory, marched in the beginning of the spring, b. c. 30, into 
Syria, and from thence he hastened to Pelusium. He sum- 
moned the governor to open the gates to him ; and Seleucus, 
who commanded there, having received secret orders from 
Cleopatra, surrendered the city without sustaining a siege. 
The rumour of this treason soon spread in the city ; but Cleo- 
patra, to clear herself of the accusation, placed the Avife and 

yor,. I. ^f? 



290 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, 

children of Seleucus in Antony's hands, in order that he 
might revenge his treachery by putting them to death. 

Reader, such conduct as this makes one blush for the 
honour of human nature. In this one woman, the most 
odious vices were united : an avowed disregard of modesty, 
breach of faith, injustice, cruelty, and the false exterior of a 
deceitful friendship, which covers a fixed design of delivering 
up to his enemy the person she affects to love. Such are the 
effects of ambition, her predominant vice. At that unhal- 
lowed shrine, she sacrificed all that adorns and makes the 
human, and especially the female, character lovely. Well 
has the poet said of this destructive vice, 

"Ambition ! powerful source of good and ill! 
Thy strength in man, like strength of wing in birds, 
When disengaged from earth, with greater ease 
And swifter flight, transports us to the skies. 
By toys entangled, or in guilt bemired, 
It turns a curse ; it is our chain, and scourge, 
In this dark dungeon, where confined we lie. 
Close grated by the sordid bars of sense ; 
All prospect of eternity shut out ; 
And, but for execution, ne'er set free." — Young. 

Adjoining the temple of Isis, Cleopatra had caused tombs 
and halls to be erected, of great size and magnificent in con- 
struction. There she ordered her most precious effects and 
moveables to be deposited — her gold, silver, jewels, ebony, 
ivory, and a large quantity of perfumes and aromatic wood ; 
as though she intended to raise a funeral pile, upon which she 
would consume herself with her treasures. Octavius Cesar, 
apprehending this would be the result, despatched messengers 
to her every day, in order to give her hopes of generous treat- 
ment. At the same time, he advanced towards the city by 
forced marches. 

On his arrival, Octavius Cesar encamped near the hippo- 
drome ; hoping to make himself master of the city, not so 
much by the aid of his forces, as by the secret intelligence 
which he held with Cleopatra. Antony, not mistrusting the 
queen, prepared for a vigorous defence. He sallied out upon 
the enemy's horse while yet they were wearied with their 
march, and, having entirely defeated them, returned victorious 
into the city. This was the last effort of expiring valour ; for, 
after this exploit, his fortitude forsook him. He made, indeed, 
another sally ; but he was repulsed with great loss, the Egyp- 
tians having by Cleopatra's private orders, abandoned him in 
the he.^t of the pn^agoiripnt. His friends at this time assured 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. ' 291 

him that Cleopatra was betraying him, and maintaining- a 
secret correspondence with the enemy ; but this excited his 
anger against them, and he replied, that, if those who affected 
to be his friends proved as faithful to him as Cleopatra, he could 
put a speedy end to the war. 

Antony was soon undeceived. The next morning, he vi^ent 
dovfn to the harbour, resolving to attack Octavius Cesar by sea 
and land. But the signal was no sooner given for the en- 
gagement, than Cleopatra's admiral, followed by all the Egyp- 
tian fleet, by her orders, went over to Cesar. Upon this, he 
hastened back to his land forces, which he had drawn up on 
some eminence within the city, and he found that they had 
all, both horse and foot, deserted to the enemy. His eyes 
were now opened. In this extremity, not knowing whom to 
confide in, and having no forces to oppose the enemy, he sent 
to challenge Cesar to a single combat ; but this only drew 
doAvn upon him the scorn and derision of the conqueror. He 
was answered, that, if he was weary of life, there were other 
ways of putting a period to it. Antony now flew, full of rage 
and despair, to the palace, with a design of slaying the perfidi- 
ous queen. In this, also, he was th^varted. The artful wo- 
man, foreseeing what Avould happen, retired into the quarter 
where the tombs of the kings of Egypt were erected, and 
which was strongly fortified. There, with two of her maids, 
and one of her eunuchs, she shut herself up, and caused it to 
be reported, that she had killed herself, to avoid falling into 
the hands of the enemy. The credulous Antony believed the 
report, and, passing from an excess of rage to the most violent 
Transports of grief, thought only of following her to her grave. 

Having taken this desperate resolution, the thought of 
which makes humanity shudder, he shut himself up in his 
apartment with a faithful slave called Eros ; and, having 
caused his armour to be taken off, he commanded him to run 
him through with his own sword. But the slave, full of affec- 
tion, respect, and fidelity for his master, stabbed himself with 
it, and fell dead at his feet. Antony, encouraged by his ex- 
ample, fell upon his own SAVord, and gave himself the wound 
of which he afterwards died. At that moment, an officer of 
the queen's guards came to inform him that she was alive. 
The name of Cleopatra was no sooner pronounced, than he 
opened his eyes ; and, being informed that she was still living, 
he suffered his wounds to be dressed, and afterwards caused 
himself to be carried to the tower, whither she had retired. 
Cleopatra would not suffer the gates to be opened for fear of a 



292 HISTORY OF TIIE EGYPTUNS. 

surprise ; but she ordered her servants below to fasten him to 
tJie ropes which hung from the top of the fort, and were made 
use of to pull up stones, that part not being finished. By this 
means Antony reached the apartment of Cleopatra. As soon 
as she had taken bun in, she laid him on a bed ; and, after 
having expressed her grief and concern in the most tender and 
affecting terms, she cut ofl" his hair, according to the supersti- 
tious notion of the pagans, who imagined that it gave reUef to 
those who died a violent death. 

Antony, recovering his senses, and seeing Cleopatra's 
affliction, told her, that he considered himself happy, since he 
died in her arms ; and as to his defeat, he was not ashamed 
of it, since it was no dishonour for a Roman to be conquered 
by a Roman. He then advised her to consult her o\vn in- 
terest ; to save her life and kingdom, if she could do it mth 
honour : and to trust none of the friends of Octavius Cesar, 
except Proculeius. With these words he expired. The lesson 
his life holds out to us, is, not to listen to the syren voice of plea- 
sure, lest it should beguile us from the paths of moral rectitude, 
and lead us to destruction. Antony, had he been deaf to its 
enchantments, at the time of his death might have been master 
of all RomeJ^and the world as known to the Romans ; but 
madly following an enervating course of life, his power grew 
daily weaker and weaker, till at length he was hunted by his 
foes like a partridge on the mountains, unable to defend him- 
self from his pursuers. And how many are there lost to all 
eternity, who have been ruined by the sinful pleasures of 
earth ! Well has it been said, that the pleasure wliich this 
earth affords is as voices which sing around us, but whose 
strains allure to ruin ; that it is a banquet spread where poison 
is in every dish ; and a couch which invites us to repose, but 
to sleep on it is death. 

" Pleasures are fled, and fewer we enjoy ; 
Pleasure, like quicksilver, is bright and coy : 
We strive to grasp it with our utmost skill ; 
Still it eludes, us, and it glitters still : 
If seized at last, complete your mighty gains : 
What is it but rank poison in your veins V — Young. 

Reader, it has been wisely remarked, that the pleasures of 
sense will surfeit, and not satisfy ; but the pleasures of reUgion 
will satisfy, and not surfeit. Make these your portion on 
earth, and they will be continued to you in heaven. 

As soon as Antony had expired, Proculeius arrived from 



fflSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 293 

tears at the relation of what had passed, and at the sight of the 
sword still reeking with the blood of Antony. The queen 
remained in the fort, and refused to surrender herself to hiin, 
unless he would promise her, in Cesar's name, both the king- 
dom of Egypt and her liberty. These were terms which he 
could not grant ; for Octavius Cesar, having a desire to carry 
her in triumph to Rome, had warned him not to promise her 
any thing that could prevent him from treating her as a cap- 
tive. They held a long conference, Cleopatra standing within, 
and Proculeius without. But, Proculeius exhorting her only in 
general terms to confide in Cesar, she broke off the conference 
abruptly, and retired. 

After having considered the place well, Proculeius went to 
make his report to Octavius Cesar ; and Gallus was imme- 
diately sent to confer with her again. In the meanwhile, 
Proculeius brought a ladder to the wall, and entered the fort 
by the same window through which Antony was drawn up, 
and, followed by two officers, went down to the gate where 
Cleopatra was conferring with Gallus. When she saw him 
unexpectedly appear, she drew a dagger, with a design to kill 
herself; but Proculeius, hastening to her, forced it out of her 
hands before she could carry her intention into effect. He 
afterv/ards searched her robes, lest she should have any wea- 
pon or poison concealed in them ; and, having exhorted her to 
be of good cheer, and to confide in Cesar's clemency, he sent 
to acquaint hun that the queen of Egypt was his prisoner. 
Overjoyed at the news, he sent Epaphroditus, one of his freed- 
men, to guard her carefully, and prevent her from making 
any attempt upon her own life ; enjoining him at the same 
time to treat her with complacency and respect. 

In the mean time, Octavius Cesar, leaving his camp, drew 
near to Alexandria, and, finding the gates opened, entered it 
conversing with Arius a philosopher, and a native of the city, 
who had been his preceptor. Having arrived at the palace, 
he ascended a tribunal which he had caused to be erected 
there ; and, seeing the people prostrate upon the ground, he 
first conunanded them to rise, and then, in an elegant 
harangue, he told them that he pardoned them for three rea- 
sons: 1. Upon the account of Alexander, the founder of their 
city ; 2. For the beauty of their city ; and, 3. For the sake 
of Arius, for whose merit and learning he had great esteem. 

Octavius Cesar, being now in possession of Alexandria, 
sent Proculeius to comfort the queen, and to ask her in his 
name whether she had any request to make to him ? Cleo- 

25* 



294 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

patra, returning many thanks to Cesar, replied, that she had 
but one favour to beg of him, which was, that he would give 
her leave to bury Antony. This was granted, and permis- 
sion was given her to perform the funeral obsequies with all 
possible splendour, and to spend what sums she pleased. She 
availed herself of this permission, for she spared no cost to 
render his interment magnificent, according to the custom of 
Egypt. She caused his body to be embalmed with the most 
exquisite odours of the east, and placed it in the tombs of the 
kings of Egypt. 

As this ceremony reneAved her grief, she was seized Avith a 
fever, Avhich she gladly embraced as a pretence to abstam from 
food, and thereby end her hfe. She imparted her design to 
her physician, Avho approved of it ; but Cesar, being informed 
of her indisposition, sent physicians to her, Avhom he could 
confide in, and, by threats against her children, prevailed upon 
her to follow their prescriptions. 

When Cleopatra was in some measure restored to health, 
he sent Proculeius to acquaint her that he should be glad to 
wait upon her, if she would permit him. Though greatly 
disfigured by illness and grief, yet she did not despair of in- 
spiring the young conqueror with sentiments of tenderness 
and love, as she had done Julius Cesar and Antony. She 
was therefore pleased to find that he intended to pay her a 
visit ; and, as soon as he entered her room., she threv»' herself 
at his feet, and afterwards, in laying before him the state of 
her affairs, exerted all her charms in the hope of conquering 
her conqueror. But, whether her charms had no longer the 
same power, or that ambition Avas his ruling passion, her 
beauty and her conversation Avere lost upon him. He kept 
his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the ground ; and, AA^hen she 
had ceased speaking, he returned her this laconic ansAver: 
" Woman, be of good cheer ; you shall have no harm done 
you." 

Cleopatra was not insensible of this coldness, and she 
presaged no good from it ; but, dissembling her concern, and 
changing her discourse, she thanked him for the compli- 
ments Proculeius had made her in his name, and Avhich he 
had confirmed in pei'son ; adding, that, in token of her grati- 
tude, she intended to deliver up to him all the treasures of the 
kings of Egypt. Accordingly, she put an inventory into his 
hands, purporting to be an account of all her revenues. Se- 
leucus, one of her treasurers then present, accused her of 
having concealed part of her most A^aluable effects ; upon 



HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 295 

which, she fleAv upon him with great violence, striking him 
several blows in the face. Then, turning towards Cesar, "Is 
it not very hard," said she, "that, while you have conde- 
scended to visit me in my present condition, one of my own 
servants should thus insult me in your presence ? It is true, 
I have reserved some jewels, but they are not to adorn my 
own person : they are reserved for your sister Octavia, and 
your wife Livia, that by their intercession you may treat an 
unfortunate princess with favour and kindness." 

Octavius Cesar was pleased to hear her talk in this strain, 
imagining that the love of life inspired her with such language. 
He told her she might dispose of the jewels she had preserved 
as she pleased ; and after having assured her that he would 
treat her with more generosity and magnificence than she 
could venture to hope, he withdrew, convinced in his own 
mind that she was deceived. 

Octavius Cesar, however, was himself deceived. Not 
doubting that she was intended to grace the conqueror's 
triumph when he returned to Rome, she had no other 
thoughts than to avoid that ignominy by self-murder. She 
knew that she was observed by the guards that attended her, 
and that her time in Egypt was short, the conqueror being 
about to return to Rome. She sent, therefore, to desire that 
she might go to pay her last duty at the tomb of Antony, and 
take her leave of him. Cesar granted her request ; and she 
went thither, and bathed his tomb with her tears. There, it 
is said, addressing the lifeless corpse, she declared that she 
v/ould soon give Antony a more certain proof of her affection. 

After that fatal protestation, which she accompanied with 
sighs and tears, she covered the tomb with flowers, and re- 
tailed to her chamber. She then went into a bath ; and from 
the bath she went to the table, having directed it to be served 
in a sumptuous manner. In the height of the mirth, she rose 
from the table ; and, having written a letter to Cesar, she 
gave it to Epaphroditus, begging he would deliver it himself, 
since it contained matters of the utmost consequences. But 
this was only a pretence to send Epaphroditus, who kept 
a watchful eye over her, out of the way. When he was 
gone, she withdrew to her room, attended by two of her wo- 
men ; and, having there dressed herself in her robes, she sat 
down upon a couch, and asked for a basket of figs, which 
one of her servants had brought her in the disguise of a 
peasant. 

Among these figs was concealed an asp, which venomous 



296 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

creature Cleopatra applied to her left arm, and, quickly fall- 
ing as it were asleep, expired ; and thus awfully hastened 
her approach to judgment. 

The subject of the letter to Cesar was, to request him that 
he would suffer her to be buried in the same tomb with An- 
tony. From this he guessed her designs, and immediately 
despatched some of his friends to see what had happened, 
and to prevent her if still alive, from making any attempts on 
her own life. The messengers found the guards standing at 
the gates, mistrusting nothing ; but, when they entered her 
apartment they found her dead. Horace represents her as 
being too haughty to suffer herself to be led in triumph at 
the wheels of her victor's chariot. He says : 

"With fearless hands she dared to grasp 
The writhings of the wrathful asp, 
And suck the poison through her veins. 
Resolved on death, and fiercer from its pains ; 
Then, scorning to be led, the boast 
Of mighty Cesar's naval host, 
And armed with more than mortal spleen, 
Defrauds a triumph, and expires a queen." 

This may have been Cleopatra's motive for this appalling 
deed ; but we must look upon her end as the just retribution 
of Divine Providence for her wicked conduct through life. 
The reader cannot, indeed, fail to have observed, in the pe- 
rusal of the latter portion of this history, that punishment 
ever awaited the evil-doer. The kings and queens of Egypt 
trampled upon justice, and sported with the lives of their sub- 
jects, for many a long year ; but the mischief they designed 
for others, in the end returned upon their own heads. Sure- 
ly these facts are a lively comment upon the Divine Provi- 
dence as noted by the psalmist, " Verily he is a God that 
judgeth in the earth," Psa. Iviii. 11. He had marked the 
iniquities of this infamous woman — infamous, indeed, beyond 
the vilest of her race — and a signal fall was hence designed 
to be her portion, that generations unborn might fear to pro- 
voke his displeasure ; for such is one grand design m the 
judgments inflicted upon individuals for their sins ; and that, 
not only where He is loved and feared, but among the na- 
tions that call not upon his holy name. 

Cleopatra died at thirty-nine years of age, of which she 
had reigned twenty-two from the death of her father. After 
her death, Egypt was reduced into a province of the Roman 
empire, and governed by a prefect, sent thither from Rome. 



HrSTORY OF THE EGYPTUNS. 297 

The reign of the Ptolemies in Egypt, if its commencement is 
dated from the death of Alexander the Great, had continued" 
293 years ; from b. c. 323, to e. c. 30, when it was finally 
subverted. 



In laying down this history one great truth must be im- 
pressed upon the mind of the reader — that of the mutability 
of all earthly things. He has seen a great nation arise from 
one small family, and that great nation perish, after many 
changes, almost entirely from under the sun. He has seen 
monarch succeed monarch, and either from violence or na- 
tural causes lay each his head low in the dust. He has seen 
pyramids, and temples, and palaces, and cities, erected by the 
art and labour of man, as though they would emulate the 
height of the blue vault of heaven, and defy the utmost shock 
of time ; and then moulder away, as though they had not 
been. He has seen generation succeed to generation — one 
race of rulers succeed to another race of rulers, until all have 
blended with their mother earth. He has seen the mighty 
striving for the mastery with the mighty, and then has beheld 
them forgetting the deadly strife, and lying down in the cold 
tomb. He has seen the oppressor and the oppressed bow 
their heads alike to the stroke of the one common tyrant of 
the whole human race — death. Yes, reader, 

" All has its date below; the fatal hour 
Was registered in heaven ere time began. 
We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works 
Die too : the deep foundations that we lay, 
Time ploughs them up, and not a trace remains. 
We build with what we deem eternal rock : 
A distant age asks v/here the fabric stood ; 
And in the dust, sifted and searched in vain, 
The undiscoverable secret sleeps." — Cowper. 

Happy are they whose hopes are *fixed on Christ ; " for 
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is 
Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. iii. 11. Let the world change as it 
may, and vary itself, as it ever doth, in storms and calms ; 
their rest is pitched aloft, far, far above the sphere of change- 
able and perishing mortality ! 

These truths are also impressed upon our minds by the sub- 
sequent history of Egypt ; at the same time, it affords a lively 
comment upon the prediction which declares, that Egypt 
should become the " basest of kingdoms." It was oppressed, 
agitated, and despoiled, under the dominion of the Romans, 



298 HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

till the Mohammedan conquest, a. d. 638. At that date, un- 
der the caliphate of Omar, Egypt was invaded by Amer Eb- 
nel As, who took Pelusium and Babylon of Egypt, a strong 
Roman station, after a siege of seven months. From thence 
he advanced to Memphis, which John Mecaukes, governor 
for the Byzantine emperor, treacherously surrendered, and 
the Copts agreed to pay tribute, or a capitation tax, to the 
caliph. Alexandria also was captured, and the whole coun- 
try as far as Syene reduced to a province of the caliphate. 
Tn the year 868, Ahmed ebn e Tooloon, governor of Egypt 
for the Abasside cahphs, usurped the dominion of the country, 
which lasted till 906, Avhen the caliphs retook Egypt. In 
912, Abayd Allah el Mahdee invaded Egypt, which he re- 
tained till 934, when he was defeated by the forces of the 
caliph. Two years after. El Akhshed Mohammed ebn 
Tughg, a Turkish chief, in the service of the caliph, usurped 
the government of Egypt, and began a new dynasty, which 
lasted till 970, when the Fatimeh, who ruled in Africa, took 
possession of the country. These Fatemite caliphs ruled over 
Egypt till the period of the crusades, a. d. 1171, when the 
Kurd Salah e deen Yoosef Ebn Eyoob founded the dynasty 
of the Eyoobites, which existed till 1250. At this period, El 
Moez, a Turkoman memlook, or slave, after murdering Tou- 
ran Shah, usurped the throne, and founded the dynasty of the 
Baharite sultans. Baybers, a memlook, also assassinated his 
master in 1261, or 1262, and made himself sultan of Egypt. 
His descendants ruled under the title of Baharite Memlook 
Meleks, or sultans, till 1382, when Dowlet el Memeleek el 
Borgeeh, a Circassian slave, founded the dynasty of the'Bor- 
geeh, or Circassian memlooks, Avhich lasted till 1517, when 
Selim I., the Ottoman sultan, defeated the memlooks at Helio- 
polis, and caused Toman Bey, the last of their rulers, to be 
hanged at Cairo The memlooks, however, still retained 
power in Egypt. Selim, indeed, made conditions with the 
memlooks, by a treaty, in which he acknowledged Egypt as 
a republic governed by twenty-four beys, tributary to him and 
his successors, who appointed a pacha, or governor, to reside 
at Cairo. The beys were to elect from among themselves a 
sheikh of Belad, to be their head, who was looked upon by 
the Porte as the chief of the republic, or the memlook aristo- 
cracy. This latter body was to enjoy absohite power over 
the inhabitants of Egypt. They were permitted by this 
treaty, which was signed a. d. 1517, to levy taxes, keep a 



HSTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. 299 

military force, raise money, and exercise all the rights of 
sovereignty. 

Egypt remained under this form of government till the 
French invasion, 1798, when Napoleon, under the pretence 
of delivering the country from the power of the memlooks, 
took possession of it. He was expelled from thence in 1801 ; 
and the pacha appointed by the sultan, was restored to his 
government. The memlooks and the pacha, however, could 
not agree ; and, at length, Mohanmied Ali collected most of 
the beys, with their principal officers, within the citadel of 
Cairo, where he caused them all to be massacred. This oc- 
curred A. D. 1811. A few escaped into Upper Egypt, from 
whence they were driven into Nubia, and finally, the few 
who survived, took refuge in Darfur. This was the end of 
the memlook power, which had ruled over Egypt for more 
than 400 years, and under whose power the country had suf- 
fered more than during any other period of its history. 

Such are the vicissitudes to which Egypt has been sub- 
jected, such the manner in which it has been scourged. 
Other changes futurity wiU develope ; and He only who has 
pronounced a woe upon the land, knows what those changes 
will be. Reader, ponder upon these things, and, in the spirit 
of fear and love. 

Adoring stand before his throne. 
And his dread power and justice own. 



THE 

DYNASTIES 

OF 

EGYPTIAN MONARCHS, 

ACCORDING TO MANETHO, 

ON 

THE AUTHORITY OF AFRICAmjS AND EUSEBIUS. 



rmST BOOK OF MANETHO. 

I. DYNASTY 

Of eight kings, either Thinites or Thebans. 

Yts. 

1. Menes the Thinite 62 

2. Athothis, his son, built the palace at Memphis, and wrote the 

anatomical books, being a physician 57 

3. Cencenes (Kenkerres,) his son 31 

4. Venephes (Enephes or Venepheres) his son, raised pyramids ' 

near the town of Cochonc. A great plague in Egj^pt during 
his reign 23 

5. Usaphaedus (Saphiados or Usaphaes) his son 20 

6. Miebidus (Niebis or Niebais) his son 26 

7. Semempsis (Semenpses or Mempses) his son. A pestilence 

raged in Egypt 18 

8. Bienaches (Ubienthes or Bibethis) his son 26 

The sum is 263 * Total 263 



' It will be observed, that there nre some discrepjincies in the number of yenrs 
which some of the dynasties are said to have existed, and the sum total, when 
correctly cast. Where these ociuir, ihn proper sum is glvoTi in connexion with 
the oiigmal nunilictrt 



DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONARCHS. 301 

n. DYNASTY 

Of nine Thinite kings. 

Yrs 
1. Boethus I. (or Bochus.) In his reign, the earth is said to have 

opened at Bubastis 38 

2 Caeachos, (Chous or Cechous,) under whom the bulls Apis in 
Memphis, and Mnevis in Heliopolis, and the Mendesian goat, 
were appointed to be gods 39 

3. Binothris, (or Biophis,) under whom it was enacted that females 

might govern a nation 47 

4. Tlas r According to Eusebius, these three, and"! 17 

5. Sethenes... < their four successors, did nothing worthy > 41 

6. Chaeris (.of remembrance, and he omits their names. J 17 

7. Nephercheres. Fabulists reported the Nile to have flowed with 

honey during eleven days 25 

8. Sesochiis 48 

9. Cheneres (or Keneres.) Name omitted by Eusebius 30 

Eusebius gives 297 years. Total 302 



III. DYNASTY 

Of nine Memphite Icings. 

YlB. 

1. Necherophes, (Echerophes or Necherocliis.) In his reign, the 

Libyans revolted from the Egyptians 28 

2. Tosorthrus, (or Sesorthus.) He introduced the mode of build- 
ing with hewn stone, and patronized literature 29 



3. Tyris ^ 

4. Mesochris 

5. Soyphis,(SonphisorZonphis.) 



Eusebius mentions six others 
after Sesorthus, but he omits 



6. Tosertasis J- their names, because they had « 

7. Aches 

8. Sephuris 

9. Cerpheres 



achieved nothing worthy of 
remembrance. 



7 
17 
16 
19 
42 
30 
26 



Eusebius gives 197 years. Total 214 

IV. DYNASTY 

Of eight Memphite kings of a different branch. 

Yrs. 

1. Soris , 29 

2. Suphis. Built the largest pyramid, ascribed by HerodetiBS to 

Cheops €3 

VOL. I. 26 



}02 



DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONAUCHS. 



3 


Suphis II "^ 


The names of these are 
' omitted by Eusebius. 


Yrs. 

r 66 

63 


4. 


Mencheres 

Rhatoeses 

Bicheres 

Sebercheres 

Thampthis , 

I 


5. 

fi. 


25 

22 


7. 


7 


8. 


9 




Susebins gives 448 years. Total 284 






V. DYNASTY 





Of nine Elephantine kings. 



1 . Usercheris 

2. Sephres 

3. Nepherclieres (or Nechepheres.) . . . 

4. Sisires (or Sisichis) 

5. Chores (or Echeres) 

6. Rathiires (or Rathuris) 

7. Mencheres (or Mercheres) 

8. Tarcheres (or Tacheres) 

9. Obnus (Unus, or Onnus) 

The sum is 218. 



Eusebius reckons 31 

Elepliantme kings, but 

> omits all their names, emd < 

introduces Othius and 

Fhiops mto this dynasty. 



Yrs. 
28 
13 
20 
7 
20 
44 
9 
44 
33 



Total 248 



VI. DYNASTY 

Of six Memphite kings 

Yrs. 

1 . Othoes, (Othius, or Thoes,) killed by his guards 30 

2. Phius 53 

3. Methusuphis 7 

4. Phiops (or Aphiops,) who began to reign at the age of six 

years 94 

5. Menthesuphis 1. 

6. Nitocris. Built the third pyramid 12 

The sum is 197. Total 203 



VII. DYNASTY 



Of 70 Memphite kings, who reigned 70 days ; or, according to Etisebius 
five kings, who reigned 75 days or years. 



DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONARCHS. 303 



VIII. DYNASTY 

Of 27 Memphite kings, who reigned 15Q years. Eusebius gives Jive 
kings, and 106 years. 



IX. DYNASTY 

Of 19 HeracleopoVte kings, who reigned 409 years ; or, according to 

Eusebius, four, who ruled 100 years. 

The first was Achthces, (Acthros, Ochthovis or Ochitois.) He 
was more cruel than his predecessors ; and having perpetrated many 
crimes, he was seized with madness, and afterwards killed by a crocodile 



X. DYNASTY 

Of 19 Heracleopolite kings, who reigned 185 years. 

XI. DYNASTY 

Of 16 Diospolite kings, who reigned 43 years. 
Of these Amraenemes reigned 16 years. 



The whole of the above-mentioned kings is 192, and they reigned, 
according to these statements, during the space of 2,300 years and 70 
days. This terminates Manetho's first book. 



SECOND BOOK OF MANETHO. 

XII. DYNASTY 

Of seven Diospolite kings. 

Yrs. 

1. Sesonchosis, (Geson-Goses, or Sesonchoris,) son of Amme- 

nemes 46 

2. Ammenemes, (or Ammanemes ;) he was slain by his eunuchs... 38 

3. Sesostris 48 

4. Lachares, (Labaris, Lamaris, or Lambares.) He built, it is said, 

the labyrinth in the Arsinoite nome as a tomb for himself. 8 

5. Ammeres (or Ameres) T Eusebius omits the names of T 8 

6. Ammenemes J these three, and says the sue- ( 8 

7. IScemiophris (Skemio- 1 cessors of Lambaris reigned 42 [ 

pliris his sister J years. L 4 

According to Eusebius, 245 years. Total 160 



304 DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONARCHS. 

XIII. DYNASTY 

Of 60 Diospolite kings, who reigned 453 years 

XIV. DYNASTY 

Of 76 Xoite kings, who reigned 134 years. Eusebiua says 484, and 
another reading gives 184. 

XV. DYNASTY 

Of the Shepherds. According to Eusebius, of Diospolitans, who 
reigned 250 years. 

These were six foreign Phenician kings, who took Memphis : — 

Yrs. 

1. The first was Saites, from whom the Saite nome is said to have 

borrowed its name 19 

2. Beon, (Bion, Anon, or Byon) 44 

3. Pachnan, (or Apachnas) 61 

4. Staan 50 

5. Archies, (or Auchles) 49 

6. Apophis, (or Aphobis) 61 

Eiieebius gives 250 years. Total 284 

XVI. DYNASTY 

Of 32 Hellenic Shepherd kings, who reigned 518 years. Eusebius 
gives five Theban kings, who reigned 190 years. 

XVII. DYNASTY 

Of 43 Shepherd kings, and 43 Theban Diospolites. Eusebius intro- 
duces the Fifteenth Dynasty of Africanus, whom he calls Phenician 
Shepherds. 

AFRICANUS. EUSEBIUS. 

- Yrs Yrs. 

The contemporary reigns 1. Saites 12 

of the Shepherds and The- 2. Bnon (or Anon) 40 

bans lasted 150 3. Archies (Aphophis) 30 

4. Apophis (Archies) 13 

Total 1<J3 

Their names are omitted. Differing from the total of the 

Fifteenth Dynasty of Africanus. 



DYNASTIES OF EtrYPTIAN MONARCHS. 



305 



XVIII. DYNASTY 

Of Diospolite kings, according to 



AFRICANTJS. 

Yrs. 
Amos, in whose time Moses 

went out of Egypt 

Chebros 13 

Amenophthis 24 

Amersis (Amensis) 22 



5. Misaphris (Misphris) 13 

6. Misphragmathosis, (Mis- 

phragmuthosis) in whose 
time happened the deluge 
of Deucalion 26 

7. Tuthmosis 9 

8. Amenophis, supposed to be 

Memnon 31 

9. Horus 37 

10. Acherrhes. 32 

11. Rathos 6 

12. Chebree 12 



13. Acherres 12 

14. Armases < 5 



15. Ramesses, (Ameses or Ar- 

meses) 1 

16. Amenophath, orAmenoph. 19 



EUfiEBIUS. 

Yrs. 

1. Amoses, (Amosis) 25 

2. Chebron..... 13 

3. Amophis (Amenophis) 21 

4. Miphrls, (Memphres, Meph- 
res) 12 

5. Misphragmuthosis, (Mis- 

pharmuthosis, of Misphrag- 
muthos) 26 

6. Tuthmosis 9 

7. Amenophis, (Amophis) sup- 

posed to be Memnon 31 

8. Orus 36, 27, or 37 

9. Achencheres, or Achencher- 

ses 16, or 12 

10. Athores 39, (Achoris) 7 

11. Chencherres. In his time, 
Moses led the Jews out 

of Egypt ,... 18 

12. Acherres 8 

13. Cherres 15 

14. Armas, who was also call- 
ed Danaus 5 

After which he was expelled 
by his brother ^gyptus, and 
fled to Greece. He took Ar- 
gos and became king. 

15. Ramesses (Ammeses or 
Remesses") 68 

16. Amenophis, or (Memophis,) 
[16 Memophes] 40 



The sum is 262. 



Total 263. Total 348 

or 380, 369, 378, 384, or 347. 



ATRICANUS. 



XIX. DYNASTY 

Of Diospolite kings. 

Yrs. 



1. Sethos 51 1. Sethos 

2. Rapsaces 61 2. Rampses, or (Rapsee). 

26* 



Yrs. 
.. 55 
.. 66 



306 DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONAiiCHS. 

AFRICANUS. EU8EBIUS. 

Yrs. Yrs. 

3. Ainenephthes 20 3 Amenephthis or (Amenoph- 

thisj 26 

4. Rameses 60 4. Ammenemes 26 

5. Ammonemnes 5 5. Thuoris, the Polybus of 

6. Thuoris, in whose reign Homer 7 

Troy was taken 7 

Total 209 Total 194 

The Slim is 204. The sum is 180. 



In this second book of Manetho are 96 kings, who ruled 2,121 years. 



THIRD BOOK OF MANETHO. 



XX. DYNASTY 

Of 12 Diospoliie kings, who reigned 135 years, or, according to Evse- 
hius, 178 years. Their names are omitted. 

XXI. DYNASTY 

Of seven Tanite kings, according to 

AFRICANUS. EUSEBIUS. 

Yrs. Yrs. 

1. Smendis, (Smerdes, or 1. Smendis, (or Amendis) 26 

Smedes) 26 mm mm 

2. Psusenes, (Psuneses, or 2. Psusemies 41 

Psusennes) 46 

3. Nephelcheres 4 3. Nephercheres, (Nepher- 

chenes 4 

4. Amenopthis,or Amenenoph- 4. Amenopthis 9 

this 9 nmnun 

5. Osochor, (Osochon) 6 5. Osochor 6 

6 Psinaches (Pinaches') 9 6. Psinnaches 9 

7. Psuseunes, (Suseanes) 30 7. Psusennes 35 

Total 130 Total 130 



DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONARCHS. 



307 



XXII. DYNASTY 

Of Bubastic kings, according to 

AFRICANUS. EUSEBIUS. 

Yrs. Yrs. 

1 Sesonchosis, (or Sesonchis). 21 1. Sesonchusis, (or Sesoncho- 

sis 21 

2. Osortlion, (Osoroth) 15 2. Osorthus, (Osorthon) 15 

,' \ Three names not given / qc 
c" I of kings who reigned, i 

6. Tacelothis, (TaceUothis).... 13 3. Tacellothis, (TakeUothis) . . . 13 

q' ) Names not inserted / ^q 
g" ^reigned ^ 

Total 120 Total 49 

The si«n is 116. 



XXIII. DYNASTY 

Of three Tanite kings, according to 

AFRICANUS. EUSEBIUS 

Yrs. Yrs. 

1. Petonbatisj (Petubastes.) In 1. Petubastes 25 

his time the Olympiads 
began 40 

2. Osorcho, (Osorchon.) The 2. Osorthon 9 

Egyptians called him Her- 
cules 8 

3 Psamrans 10 3. Psammus 10 

4 Zet 34 or 31 

Total 89 Total 44 



XXIV. DYNASTY 

Consisted of Bocchoris, the Saite, alone. No mention is made of 
his father, Tnephactus. 



308 



DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONARCHS. 



XXV. DYNASTY 



Of three Ethiopian kings, according to 

EUSBBIUS. 



AFEICANUS. 



Yrs. Yrs. 

1. Sabaeo (Sabbacon) 8 1. Sabbacon 12 

2. Sebiehus (Sebichusor Seve- 2. Sevechus 12 

chus) his son 14 

3. Tarcus ; 18 3. Taracus. 20 



Total 40 



Total 44 



XXVI. DYNASTY 



Of nine Saite kings, according to 



AFRICANUS. 



Yrs. 



1. Stephinates 7 

2. Nechepsos (Nerepsos) 6 

3. Nechao i. (Nachao) 8 

4. Psammeticus 54 

5. Nechao ii 6 

6. Psammuthis 6 

7. Vaphris 19 

8. Amosis 44 

9. Psammecherites reigned 6 

months. 



6 months. 



Total 150 



EUSEBIUS. 

Yrs. 

1. Ammeres the Ethiopian 12 

2. Stephinathis 7 

3. Nechepsos 6 

4. Nechao 1 8 

5. Psammetichus 45 

6. Nechao n 6 

7. Psammuthis 17 

8. Vapheres 25 

9. Amosis 42 



Total 168 



XXVII. DYNASTY 

Of eight Persian kings, according to 



AFRICANUS. 

Yrs. 

Cambyses 6 

Darius, sou of Hystaspes... 36 

Xerxes the Great 21 

Artabanus, 7 months 



EUSEBIUS. 

Yrs. 

1. Cambyses 3 

2. The Magi, 7 months 

3. Darius 36 

4. Xerxes i 21 



DYNASTIES OF fiGYPTLAK MONAHCHS. 309 

AF1UCANU3. EUSEBIUS. 

Yr3. Yrs. 

5. Artaxerxes 41 5. Artaxerxes (Longimanus). . . 40 

6. Xerxes II. 2 months 6. Xerxes ii. 2 months 

7. Sogdianus, 7 months 7. Sogdianns, 7 months 

8. Darius, the son of Xerxes... 19 8. Darius, the son of Xerxes... 19 

Total 124 Total 120 

4 months. 4 moirtfas. 



XXVUI. DYNASTY 

Consisted of Amyrteus of Sais alone, who reigned six years. 

XXIX. DYNASTY 

Of Mendesian kings, according to 

AFKICANUS. EUSEBIUS. 

Yrs. Yre. 

1. Nepherites 6 1. Nepherites 6 

2. Achoris 13 2. Achoris 13 

3. Psammuthis 1 3. Psammuthis 1 

4. Nepherites, 4 months. 4. Muthis 1 

5. Anepherites, 4 months. 

Total 20 Total 21 

4 months. 4 months. 

XXX. DYNASTY 

Of three Sebennyte kings, according to 

AFRICANUS. EUSEBIUS. 

Yrs. Yre. 

1. Nectanebes 18 1. Nectanebes 10 

2. Teos 2 2. Teos 2 

3. Nectanes ]i 18 3. Nectanebes ii 8 

Total 38 Total 20 



310 



DYNASTIES OF EGYPTIAN MONARCHS, 



XXXI. DYNASTY 



Of Persians, according to 



AFRICANUS. 



Yrs. 
1. Ochus (Artaxerxes iii.) ruled 
Persia 20 years and Egypt 2 



2. Arses 3 

3. Darius 4 



Total 9 



Yrs 



1. Ochus in his 20tli year ob- 

tained possession of Egypt, 
and reigned 6 

2. Arses, son of Ochus 4 

3. Darius, conquered by Alex- 
ander 6 

Total 16 



The whole number of years in the third book of Manetho Ls 1,050. 



Such is the list of the kings of Egypt, given by the copyists of Ma- 
netho. It is not offered to the reader's notice as free from errors, or as 
worthy of his credence, but as probably supplying some of the names 
of the monarclis of whom nothing is recorded in the pages of ancient 
historians. Many of the Dynasties, however, are very questionable, 
which the reader will observe by a coUation of them with the foregoing 
pages, and by comparing the sum total of the years they reigned with 
the dates introduced in this history. 



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